270 civil engineering and hydraulic machines to equip Cameroon’s Communes
The financing agreements for the acquisition of this equipment were signed this Wednesday, May 22, 2024 in Yaoundé between the Cameroonian Government, represented by the Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Alamine OUSMANE MEY, and senior officials from Standard Chartered Bank, Eximbank USA and Private Export Funding Corporation.
A new wind is blowing over decentralization and local development in Cameroon, thanks to the signing ceremony for the financing agreements for the Project to set up an inter-municipal fleet of civil engineering and hydraulic machinery. This well-attended ceremony was attended by a number of key figures, including: Minepat, Minfi, Minddevel, Minmap, Minee, Mindel/Minepat, Setat/Mintp, the US Ambassador and the British High Commissioner to Cameroon, the Managing Director of FEICOM, the National President of CVUC (Communes et Villes Unies du Cameroun), the Managing Director of Standard Chartered Bank Cameroun, the President of the American company Hoffmann and several Mayors. This strong presence, hailed by the US Ambassador to Cameroon, H.E. Christopher John Lamora, reflects the importance Cameroonian authorities attach to the decentralization process. During the ceremony, three financing agreements were signed. The first concerns a credit facility of around 43.7 billion FCFA guaranteed by Eximbank USA. The second is a commercial loan of around 11.3 billion FCFA. Finally, the third concerns the retrocession agreement between MINFI, FEICOM and the CVUCs. For the Minister of the Economy, the signing of these agreements is the culmination of an active synergy between the Government and the CTDs united within the organization of the Communes et Villes Unies du Cameroun (CVUC).
“ An appreciable step which is firmly in line with the ongoing process of skills transfer, with a focus on the management of public works, road maintenance and drinking water supply issues “, said Alamine OUSMANE MEY. Financed to the tune of 31.6 million US dollars, or nearly 55 billion FCFA, the project to set up an intercommunal fleet of civil engineering and hydraulic equipment is designed to facilitate the exercise of the powers transferred by the State to the Communes in terms of road maintenance and drinking water supply.
It is part of an ambitious government program estimated at 97.2 billion FCFA. Its implementation involves :
- (i) setting up 05 zonal machine bases in each of the country’s 05 agro-ecological zones, namely Tiko (Littoral, South-West), Mfou (Centre, South), Mandjou (East, Adamaoua), Koutaba (West, North-West) and Maroua (North-Far North);
- (ii) the acquisition of 270 civil engineering and hydraulic machines from the American company Hoffmann Equipment International, as well as 05 mobile crushing stations corresponding to the specificities of each agro-ecological zone;
- (iii) setting up a semi-public company to manage the park;
- (iv) training of technical staff in the use and maintenance of equipment;
- (v) the provision of a machine rental service to Communes.
According to the Minister of Decentralization and Local Development, this new initiative reinforces the credibility of the Cameroonian model of decentralization, driven by the President of the Republic. It will promote inter-communality (two regions, one park) and provide an appropriate response to the problems of building and maintaining communal roads and supplying drinking water, which are central concerns of Cameroon’s CTDs in general and Communes in particular. As a result, “the project will support the CVUC association in its concept of ‘Production Communes’, where each municipality is called upon to become a genuine pole of growth at grassroots level”, said the CVUC National President. Augustin TAMBA also called for continued tripartite collaboration between CVUC, FEICOM and the government, to ensure greater efficiency in the implementation of this important project, whose first machines are scheduled to arrive in Cameroon at the end of 2024, according to the Managing Director of FEICOM, the project’s owner.
“For the Minister of the Economy, the signing of these agreements is the culmination of an active synergy between the Government and the CTDs united within the organization of the Communes et Villes Unies du Cameroun (CVUC). “
By Adonis ABONDO
Source: Cameroun Emergent
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