Cameroon is seeking a loan of CFA61.5 billion from Deutsche Bank Italy for Phase I of the construction of the Olounou-Oveng road linking Cameroon to Gabon. Last August 26, President Paul Biya issued a decree authorizing the Minister of Economy, Alamine Ousmane Mey, to sign a deal with the lender.

For this first phase, which covers 70 km of the 105 km of road to be built, the work will focus on the construction of a 1 x 2 lane road of 3.5 m with a reference speed of 60 km/h; 59 cross drainage structures; 13 bridges of various lengths for a total linear length of 260 m; crossroads; horizontal and vertical signs and safety equipment. Phase I is expected to last 24 months.

“Building this road section, as provided for in the 3-year Emergency Plan to Accelerate Economic Growth (PLANUT), will help open up the production basins by connecting each of the cities concerned by this project to the structuring network; extend the paved road network of the southern region to the major production basins; facilitate the flow of agro-pastoral production to the major consumption centers of Cameroon and Gabon; improve the population’s access to basic infrastructure and boost their income by facilitating the sales of their production,” according to the Ministry of Public Works.

As a reminder, in February last year, Nganou Djoumessi Emmanuel signed a commercial contract estimated at CFA67 billion with the Italian company Seas under the project. This amount was finally revised down to CFA61.5 billion after arbitrations between the parties.

Culled from Business in Cameroon