(Business in Cameroon) - Cameroon's Minister of Transport, Jean Ernest Ngalle Bibehe, officially announced on March 7 in Douala, the commissioning of five new locomotives acquired by the national rail carrier, Camrail, from US company General Electric.

The investment worth XAF12.3 billion, is part of a global order for nine engines, four of which are financed by the Cameroonian government, under the 2nd Five-Year Rail Investment Plan.

In January this year, the President of the Republic signed two decrees empowering the Minister of Economy to contract two loans totaling XAF7.8 billion with Standard Chartered Bank.

Before the equipment were commissioned, about twenty Camrail employees received training in the United States, within General Electric’s workshops, to ensure that the new acquisitions were properly used.

Also, Cameroon plans to acquire 25 passenger cars and five railcar modules in order to boost passenger activity, which has slowed since the Eséka rail accident in 2016. The Minister of Transport symbolically handed over employment contracts to new Camrail agents, who are part of the 150 young people recruited by the rail carrier, as part of a work-study training agreement with De La Salle College in Douala.

Brice R. Mbodiam