A little over four months after its withdrawal last October from the rutile project in Akonolinga, the Eramet group announces a support action in favor of an economic development project in this commune in the Nyong-et-Mfoumou department. The information is revealed in a press release from this mining group published on February 22. According to the above-mentioned correspondence, the group indicates that it is continuing its commitment by launching a sustainable societal project, with a local partner specializing in the agricultural field, namely Class M, to promote the diversification and economic strengthening of local populations. “Terre d’Ako” is the name of the said project which also benefits from the support of the State. How can we understand such an approach which, for many, seems contradictory?
“This is not an obligation for the Group, as it still only held research permits. Indeed, no provision of the Cameroonian mining code obliges a mining company to invest in community development when it is in the research and exploration phase,” indicates Mines and Oil expert Bareja Youmssi.
According to the aforementioned Eramet press release, with the “Terre d’Ako” project, more than 80 farms from villages near Akonolinga will be able to benefit from a purchasing center, making it possible to boost the cultivation of plantain as part of the structuring of the sector over two years.
The “Terre d’Ako” project, we learn, was set up after a study carried out in 2022 and 2023 in all the villages covered by the Rutile permits which had been granted to the company, by Class M. Exchanges with the communities and local actors helped to highlight the existing plantain cultivation activity.
Thus, reveals the Eramet press release, Class M and its subsidiary ASL will therefore have the mission of organizing around 83 families of producers with an average of five people in each family, then support them to increase the productivity of their fields, and will create a central purchasing which will facilitate the distribution of their productions on Cameroonian urban markets. It is estimated that 415 people will be impacted, the income of producing families will increase by approximately 80%, 6 direct jobs will be created locally in Akonolinga through the establishment of the local subsidiary of Class M/ASL.
For the record, on October 16, 2023, the Eramet Group announced its withdrawal from the Akonolinga rutile project. According to a correspondence that the structure addressed to the Acting Minister of Mines, Industry and Technological Development, and to which Current Challenges had access, “the Akonolinga ruptile project is not economically viable”.
Indeed, after four years of research and exploration culminated by a feasibility study, the group invested 13.6 million euros, or approximately 9 billion FCFA, in the project in human and technical resources. On the other hand, the project carried out on more than 2000 drillings on the four Akonolinga rutile permits revealed 89 million tonnes of resources spread over 3400 hectares with a relatively low thickness. In addition, the project presents a very high environmental risk and a fairly complex metallurgical process. The investment to make the project profitable was estimated at 118 billion FCFA.
