Cameroon: African Development Bank awards nearly 18 million euros for 365 km of Ring Road

19-Nov-2019

The Minister of Economy, Planning and Development, Alamine Ousmane Mey, and the Director General of the African Development Bank for the Central African Region, Ousmane Doré, signed the loan agreement for the first time. part of the "Transport Sector Support Project phase 3: construction of the Ring Road", for an amount of € 17.96 million, or about CFAF 12 billion.

It was on October 28, 2019 in Yaounde, in the presence of Cameroonian officials and Bank Country Manager in Cameroon, Solomane Koné.

The Ring-road construction project is the third major intervention of the Bank in the vast program of rehabilitation and development of Cameroon's road network. The Ring-Road is a total linear of about 365 km. It crosses five of the seven departments of the North West Region, which has great economic potential, and includes several connections to the Nigerian border.

The total cost of this emblematic project of the Ring Road is estimated at 255 million euros, or 167.3 billion CFA francs. It is co-financed by a loan from the ADB window of 179.60 million euros, or 117.8 billion CFA francs, a loan from the Africa Growing Together Fund (AGTF) ​​of 42.60 million euros (27 , 9 billion CFA francs). The government of Cameroon brings 21.54 billion CFA francs.

Given the importance of the resources to be mobilized, the option of financing in two installments was chosen. The second tranche, worth € 161.6 million, is in the process of appraisal and will be submitted to the Council before the end of the year.

The start of activities with the signing of the first tranche will be a strong signal of the Bank's commitment to support Cameroon in carrying out this operation. It will facilitate the mobilization of other technical and financial partners (TFPs) who have shown a real interest in the program. The sensitization of the populations of the zone of influence of the project, the realization of the related facilities and activities for the benefit of women and young people will be taken into account in its socio-economic part,

This first tranche will also complete the technical studies necessary for the realization of this infrastructure project which will link not only the main cities of the North-West region, but also Cameroon to Nigeria and other regions of Central and West Africa.

The Ring Road project is in line with the objectives of the 2010-2020 Growth and Jobs Strategy (GESP), adopted by the Government of Cameroon, as well as with the Bank's guidelines for infrastructure development. as defined in its 2013-2022 Long-Term Strategy. It will contribute to the implementation of two of the " Top 5 " operational priorities called High5, namely: " Integrate Africa "; and " Improving the quality of life of people in Africa ".

Speaking on this occasion, Minister Alamine Ousmane Mey welcomed this loan agreement before praising the excellent cooperation between Cameroon and the Bank Group. The signing of this loan brings to 30, the number of Bank operations underway in Cameroon, for a commitment of more than 1340 billion CFA francs. He also took the opportunity to welcome the significant contribution of Mr. Ousmane Doré, who is retiring at the end of October 2019.