Stopped for several months, work on the rehabilitation project of the eastern penetrating of the city of Douala is expected to resume with the mobilization of funding in the amount of approximately CFAF 100 billion by Cameroon.
Work on the east penetrating road in Douala has been on hold for several months due to lack of funding. To solve this problem, a debt of 135.5 billion euros (88.889 billion FCFA) was contracted by the Cameroonian government with Standard Chartered Bank and the company Achmea on August 11, 2021.
To confirm this debt, the President of the Republic Paul Biya recently ratified this loan agreement. This was done by a “decree signed by Paul Biya on October 7,” reports the daily Cameroon Tribune on newsstands on October 12, 2021.
“Provided by UK Export Finance (UKEF), this envelope is intended to finance the rehabilitation project of the penetrating east of the city of Douala. A breath of fresh air therefore for this site whose finishing and delivery are awaited by populations plagued by traffic difficulties for many years “, we can read in the columns of the newspaper.
The work was initially entrusted to the Chinese company WIETC / CRCC14 two years ago. But accusing it of delays, the Ministry of Public Works (Mintp) terminated the contract with this company on October 21, 2019.
Subsequently, the Canadian company Magil was mobilized in advance on August 9, 2019 pending the completion of the negotiation procedures for the signing of the financing agreement and the contract. The commercial contract was signed on December 3, 2019 between Mintp and Magil. Delivery of the work was scheduled for November 30, 2020. But for lack of money, the work was suspended. It is not yet known whether the public contract has already been signed with Magil.
In addition to also providing service to the brand new Japoma stadium, one of the sites to host the 2021 African Cup of Nations (CAN) which is being played in the country from January to February 2022, the penetrating east of Douala is a link between Douala-Ndjamena and Douala-Bangui corridors, through which respectively 340 and 55 billion FCFA of Chadian and Central African goods transit each year, according to Cameroonian customs.
