- Unpaid payment certificates totaling CFA2.13 billion constrain the contractor’s operational capacity.
- Payment suspensions ordered by the finance ministry worsened cash-flow pressure in late 2025.
- Authorities continue interim maintenance while awaiting AfDB clearance for full reconstruction contracts.
Cash-flow constraints continue to build up on the rehabilitation site of the Edéa–Kribi road. The Ministry of Public Works (Mintp) said the contractor remains active on the ground, but delayed payments now limit its deployment capacity.
“At this stage, the company remains mobilized and continues its operations, even though field assessments point to real financial suffocation, with delayed payment certificates owed to Somaf totaling CFA1,507,660,808 on the Road Fund line and CFA620,477,301 on the Public Investment Budget line,” Mintp said while commenting on project progress. These delays amount to CFA2.128 billion, while payment suspensions at the Road Fund further aggravate the impact on the company’s operational capacity.
In addition to this constraint, an exceptional measure taken by the Minister of Finance triggered payment suspensions for September, November, and December 2025. According to information communicated to Mintp, this situation prevents the settlement of services deemed essential to maintaining traffic along the Edéa–Kribi corridor, and the company therefore struggles to remain fully mobilized.
Work carried out during 2025 on the Edéa–Bivouba Bridge section improved traffic conditions. However, intervention needs persist on the Edéa–Bivouba Bridge stretch, and users describe the route as increasingly difficult. Transport operators traveling to and from the Port of Kribi account for most of the traffic.
Ensuring Traffic Flow
On the ground, the company continues to carry out targeted interventions. Recently, teams deployed equipment on the Edéa–Bivouba Bridge section to fill potholes, treat critical areas, and lay a layer of asphalt concrete, with the aim of easing the flow of hundreds of heavy trucks moving in both directions.
In line with guidance from Minister Nganou Djoumessi, the company has stepped up deployments to ensure traffic flow. Authorities also instructed technical teams to conduct a comprehensive survey of road damage, produce a detailed route map, and define a targeted intervention strategy.
Disruption
These operations, now frequent on a heavily degraded road awaiting rehabilitation, nevertheless depend on the company’s available resources. Behind this disruption, the situation combines a contractor described as financially suffocated, which attempts to mobilize between Edéa–Bivouba Bridge and Bivouba Bridge–Kribi, with a procurement process suspended pending a no-objection from the African Development Bank (AfDB). The AfDB supports the government in rehabilitating the road.
While authorities await the contracting of companies tasked with rebuilding the Edéa–Kribi road — with the lender’s no-objection opinions still pending — Mintp has launched interim maintenance works on the corridor under a contract signed in October 2024.
This article was initially published in French by Thierry Christophe Yamb
Adapted in English by Ange Jason Quenum
