Cameroon targets 600,000 jobs with $30bn rail projects

A new national railway master plan to connect Cameroon to Chad, the Central African Republic, DR Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria and Angola as well as the country’s main towns would create over 600,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities.

According to the plan released on February 3 by the Economy minister Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi, the construction is expected to take place between 2012 to 2020.

The whole project is estimated to cost $29.9 billion.

The master plan will be executed in three phases. The short term plan envisages the construction of railway lines to link the iron-producing location of Mballam to the port of Kribi, a distance of 602.6 kilometres and the aluminium-producing town of Edea to the port of Kribi which is still under construction.

Other short-term lines would link Douala to Limbe (73.5 kms) and Ngaoundere to Douala – 907.5kms.

This part of the plan aims at linking mineral-producing areas of the country to sea outlets, the Director of Infrastructures in the ministry, Guy Daniel Abouna Zoa, said.

This phase of the plan is projected at $16.9 billion.

The lines to be constructed under the medium-term phase include Douala-Wum (351.8kms), Mbanga-Kumba (21.3kms), Ngaoundere-Kousseri
(683.7kms) Bertoua-Gamboula (182.9kms), Mora-Nigeria border (35.7kms) Bafoussam-Foumban (69.3kms), Bamenda-Jakiri (75.4kms) and Mintom-Ngoyla (119.6kms).

All these lines would cost a total of $13.024 billion.

With Cameroon’s credibility in the international lending market at a record low, it will be difficult to raise colossal sum of $29.9 billion to finance the national railway master plan.

However, a credible source in the ministry's Department of Infrastructures told this reporter Monday that government intends to enter into agreements with prospective financers on a Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis.

Our source revealed that negotiations are already underway with the Chinese and it is hoped a BOT agreement would be reached soon.