EU pledges $96M loan to Cameroon to boost infrastructure

YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AP) — The European Union pledged Tuesday to lend 91 million euros ($96 million) to Cameroon over the next three years to boost the West African country’s infrastructure and attract foreign investment.

The loan was announced during a meeting between Cameroonian government ministers and an EU representative in Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde.

The loan will help Cameroon to develop its energy sector, road infrastructure and a railway network connecting the country with Chad, its landlocked neighbor, Cameroon’s Minister of the Economy Alamine Ousmane Mey told reporters after the meeting.

Another project funded by the loan will be the construction of a bridge over the Ntem River between Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.

The government has been struggling to rebuild Cameroon’s road, energy and port infrastructures, which have become seriously dilapidated in recent years. Cameroon has also been plagued by a separatist conflict in the country’s west that has killed more than 6,000 people and displaced over 760,000, according to the International Crisis Group.

The EU is already funding some major infrastructure projects in Cameroon, including the construction of a hydroelectric dam in the center of the country and a bridge between Cameroon and Chad.

“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 said.

The EU Ambassador to Cameroon, Jean-Marc Chataigner, said the loan was conditional on the government’s proper management of the funds.

Corruption is widespread in Cameroon. Last month, a report from the country’s National Anti-Corruption Commission found that Cameroon lost over FCFA 114 billion ($184 million) to corruption in 2023.

“The government needs to see that the enterprises involved in building the infrastructures have full access to the funds,” Chataigner said.

Emmanuel Tumanjong, The Associated Press