(Business in Cameroon) - Cameroon Railways (Camrail), local branch of Bollore Group and operator of Cameroon’s railway, received January 17 in Douala, a batch of five railroad cars manufactured by US General Electric, official sources said.

The locomotives acquired for XAF12.3 billion are part of a total order of 9 cars, the acquisition of 4 of them being financed by the Cameroonian government. The second batch should be delivered in the coming months and the newly received 5 cars of 3,300 Horsepower each will be put into service as of next month. They are equipped with the latest technology, on which a dozen Camrail employees have been trained in the United States, in General Electric’s workshops.

Camrail said the new acquisition is made in a “challenging immediate economic context, marked by a weak freight market destined for Chad”. These investments are part of the 2nd five-year rail investment plan, within the framework of which the government is engaged in the process of acquiring rolling stock, to relaunch passenger activities. These include 25 passenger cars, which will be delivered by the Franco-Korean company CIM-SSRT, and five railroad car modules, to be delivered by the Swiss Stadler.

Brice R. Mbodiam