25 billion FCFA to revive Camair-Co

A 25 billion FCFA loan agreement was signed between the Cameroon and a number of banks to finance the recovery plan of the national airline, Camair-Co in Yaoundé on Tuesday.

The money will be used for the purchase of a new aircraft and other major equipment among others. With the leading bank being Ecobank, the other banking institutions are Afriland First Bank, UBA and the CBC.

The Minister of Finance (Minfi), Alamine Ousmane Mey who represented the State of Cameroon, said the 25 billion constitutes the first phase of financing and according to the developing business plan, the company's needs are estimated at FCFA 30 billion.

The contract was signed in the presence of the Director General of Camair-co, Jean-Paul Nana Sandjo and the Chief Executive of Ecobank, Mustapha Fall as well as the stakeholders for this important operation.

A toast was raised in honour of the closed deal. Minfi said, "this celebration opens the door for an activity that is significant and of great importance for an airplane we want to see fly higher and farther”.

With this funding, there were talks that Camair-Co has new aircraft bringing its fleet to nine aircrafts, according to the DG of the company. It is also expected to have an internal organization worthy of the name.

The Minister spoke about the early stages of the company, which according to him started with a reasonable number of planes. Today, the government would like it to go further with advanced facilities including a national bank financing.

As such, the Minfi showed appreciation to the banking institutions involved in this investment. Not to mention the role government played to reassure the banking system of work on this difficult sector.

The Dg of Camair-co said he was fully satisfied with the mobilization of funding. Painstaking work was done by the government and participating banks. According to Jean-Paul Nana Sandjo, the project is on a good track.

“The ball is in the company's court. It is now the question on how we are going to put everything in place to repay the loan without any problem,” he said.

Mustapha Fall, meanwhile, stressed the importance of local banks in the investment projects of the state. "We are happy to give new wings to the star of Cameroon," he concluded.