Cameroon: African Development Bank Board Approves €39.6 Million Loan to Improve Access to Kribi Industrial and Port Area

NNN: On Wednesday, June 22, the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) approved a loan of 39.62 million euros to Cameroon to improve road access to the industrial and port areas of Kribi, in the south of the country.

Designed for the implementation of the second phase of the Kribi Industrial and Port Area Access Roads Development Project, the funds will complement the €114.33 million loan granted in October 2021 for the first phase.

The Cameroonian government built a deep-water port backed into an industrial zone called the ‘Kribi Port and Industrial Complex’ to address congestion in the port of Douala, which is unable to receive deep-draft vessels due to its proximity to the coastal city. of Kribi. The complex is equipped with ultra-modern machinery and spacious storage and work areas. The access roads to the complex have deteriorated over time due to the increasing use of heavy vehicles amid increased industrial activity on the site.

The loan for the second phase of the project will complement the financing of the rehabilitation works on the 110-kilometre Edea-Kribi highway and the construction of an additional 39-km highway between the community of Lolabé à Campo and the bridge over the Ntem River, on the border with Equatorial Guinea.

These future road links will make the Kribi port and industrial complex more accessible. It will reduce transportation times and costs and generally help improve livelihoods, particularly in local communities.

The project will help interconnect production, processing and consumption centers, facilitating the movement of raw materials and other goods in the subregion: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Republic of the Congo.

When implementing socio-economic activities on the site, the project considered gender and youth employment issues so that everyone can equitably benefit from its socio-economic impact.

Solomone Koné, Bank Group Deputy General Manager for Central Africa, said: “This additional loan, which comes after the October 2021 approval, will improve access to the Kribi Port and Industrial Complex, soon to become the hub largest economic sector in Central Africa reinforces the Bank’s commitment to strengthening the complementarity of production systems for infrastructure development to stimulate intra-regional trade.” He added: “This financing also strengthens our leadership in the infrastructure sector in Cameroon and Africa Central, where the Bank operates mainly in the road subsector, contributing particularly to the development of road networks and rehabilitation programs and projects, as well as strategic and technical studies.”

Since 1972, when the African Development Bank began its operations in Cameroon, it has helped finance 28 operations in the transport sector, including transnational projects.