(Business in Cameroon) – The Technical Assistance Project for Hydropower Development on the Sanaga River (Patdhs) has completed its mission and presented its final findings on January 31 in Yaoundé. One of its key recommendations is the creation of a Sanaga Basin Management Agency to oversee the river’s various uses while ensuring environmental protection and safeguarding the socio-economic interests of local communities.
According to the project’s final report, this agency would help maintain the long-term benefits of the initiative by managing the river’s resources effectively. The report describes it as “the most relevant post-project strategy to sustain the positive impacts initiated by the Patdhs.” However, its creation ultimately depends on political will and government approval.
The Patdhs also highlighted Cameroon’s critical role as both a supplier and consumer of water from several major basins, including Lake Chad, the Niger River, the Oubangui, and the Sangha. This reality, the report stresses, makes it urgent and necessary to establish a dedicated agency for the Sanaga Basin.
For now, the project team assures that all the necessary elements for creating, organizing, and structuring the agency have already been developed. “Everything is in place; all that remains is the final approval before the agency can be officially established,” the report states.
The study also found that the Sanaga River Basin has the potential to accommodate up to 11 dams. These findings have been shared with potential investors interested in developing hydropower projects in the region. “There is real potential for multiple projects in the future, leveraging the results of this work,” the technical assistance team noted.
The Patdhs served as the government’s technical advisor on the Nachtigal hydropower project, which involved the construction of a 420 MW hydroelectric dam upstream of the Sanaga River. The initiative aimed to strengthen government capacity in areas such as technical and economic optimization, integrated planning, and environmental and social risk management to ensure sustainable hydropower development and attract private sector investment.
The Technical Assistance Project for Hydropower Development on the Sanaga River was jointly funded by the Cameroonian government and the World Bank, with a total budget of CFA18 billion.
