Road infrastructure: AFD project portfolio reviewed

The outgoing Country Director of the French Development Agency met with Public Works Minister to evaluate AFD's funded projects in Cameroon.

The construction of the second bridge over the River Wouri in Douala in the Littoral Region (800m), the development of the east entrance to the same town and the tarring of the Batchenga-Ntui-Yoko-Lena road linking the Centre and Adamawa Regions of the country are infrastructural projects carried out with partial funding from the French Development Agency, AFD. This portfolio was the object of discussions between the Minister of Public Works, Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi and the outgoing AFD Country Director, Hervé Conan, at the end of his three-year stay in Cameroon.

The discussions were long, with parties telling the press at the end that it was satisfaction and frustration at the same time, parting company after years of rich and fulfilled collaboration. Leaving a place where you had many friends, developed a strong partnership, moved on with a lot of projects and had the opportunity to demonstrate commitment at the ground level are hard to bear.

"We were able to demonstrate that AFD was a real partner for Cameroon and was able to provide the different financial tools to support the growth of Cameroon," stated Herve Conan. He was however hopeful that the incoming AFD Country Director, Christian Yoka from Ethiopia will be ready to provide more to develop AFD's project portfolio in Cameroon.