At the beginning of January, Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi, the Minister of Public Works (Mintp) signed a framework agreement with China First Highway Engineering Corporation (Cfhec). As the government member indicated during the solemn signing ceremony, the latter opened the way “following the procedure which should culminate during this year 2024, with the start of construction work on this section which will make it possible to reach the city of Douala“. In accordance with the schedule established by both parties, the next step consists of the signing of commercial contracts, the raising of financing by the company CFHEC from Eximbank and a commercial bank as well as the launch of procedures for the release of the rights of way . At the moment, finding the money is one of the most urgent points. Because, the shorter the delays in making funding available, the more likely the Mintp will be to comply with the requirements of the President of the Republic, who wants the work on phase II to begin during the year 2024, as announced during his 2023 end-of-year message to the nation.
Closing of financing
On this question, perspectives are somewhat contrasting. Indeed, according to the timetable established by the Ministry of Public Works (Mintp), the procedure for signing a loan agreement with the commercial bank should only be concluded in August 2024. As for that with Eximbank, its conclusion is projected for February 2025. Enough to cast reasonable doubt on the launch of the project in 2024. However, as explained by our colleagues from Invest in Cameroon, who obtained official information from the Mintp, “CFHEC has committed to pre-financing the work on the first batch and should even start it before signing the public contract. Hence the framework agreement signed on January 12, 2024“. For the moment, the final financial offer from the Chinese service provider, which was expected no later than January 30, 2024, is not yet available. This point was raised again on February 28, 2024, during a consultation meeting between the Mintp and CFHEC officials. At the end of this meeting, Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi invited the Chinese company, which announced that it had started preparation on the ground for the delivery of its equipment, to “draw up its work schedule and send its final financial proposal.
L’option CFHEC
The works on phase II of the Yaoundé-Douala highway have been subdivided into two lots. According to Decree N0 2023/141 of February 23, 2023, the route of this second phase must pass through the locality of Yabassi to end in Massoumbou, at the point of intersection with the bypass road of the city of Douala, on a length of 139, 15km. «As the work on the bypass road is not yet complete, a connection road of approximately 8 km will be built. A connection to Edéa and Dibamba is also planned.», Specified the Mintp. For the construction of this infrastructure which will cost 900 billion FCFA excluding tax, according to data from the preliminary preliminary project study, the Mintp launched in 2020, a procedure for the selection of companies or groups of companies to support the government in the financing, design, construction, operation and maintenance of the Yaoundé-Douala highway phase 2.
This procedure resulted in the selection of 3 companies: Mota Engil, Sogea-Satom-Vinci/Razel-Faya and Sinohydro-PCRB-SDHS. Subsequently, the last two companies withdrew from the project, leaving Mota Engil to negotiate with the government. However, according to the Mintp, the conditions set by the Portuguese company, in particular the carrying out of detailed pre-project studies, as well as the increase in Cameroon’s financial participation in the project, pushed the government to abandon the project. option of a public-private partnership for an over-the-counter partnership, with Cfhec as a partner, which built the first phase of the highway which goes from Yaoundé to Bibodi (60km).
