The European Union has pledged €91 million ($96 million) to Cameroon over the next three years to enhance infrastructure and attract foreign investment. The announcement was made Tuesday during a meeting between Cameroonian government officials and an EU representative in Yaoundé, the country’s capital.
Cameroon’s Minister of the Economy, Alamine Ousmane Mey, stated that the funds would support projects in the energy sector, road infrastructure, and a railway linking Cameroon with neighboring Chad. Additionally, the loan will finance a bridge over the Ntem River, connecting Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.
The government is grappling with deteriorating infrastructure and the ongoing separatist conflict in the west, which has claimed over 6,000 lives and displaced more than 760,000 people, according to the International Crisis Group.
The EU has already contributed to major infrastructure projects in Cameroon, including a hydroelectric dam in the center and a bridge linking Cameroon and Chad. The new loan aims to further such initiatives while encouraging private investment.
“Our goal is to bring in more private investors to manage the projects. The EU is assisting us to restructure and manage public finances,” Minister Mey noted.
EU Ambassador Jean-Marc Chataigner emphasized that the loan depends on the government’s effective management of the funds. This follows a recent report by Cameroon’s National Anti-Corruption Commission, which revealed that the country lost over FCFA 114 billion ($184 million) to corruption in 2023.
“The government needs to ensure that enterprises involved in building the infrastructures have full access to the funds,” Chataigner stressed.
(AP)
