(Business in Cameroon) – The African Development Bank (AfDB) approved a 136 million euro (approximately 89.2 billion CFA francs) loan on May 20, 2025, to fund the CAP2E project (Capacities and Competencies for Employability and Entrepreneurship) in Cameroon’s Far North region.
The five-year project, spanning from 2025 to 2029, aims to enhance youth employability, foster entrepreneurship, with a particular focus on female entrepreneurship, and modernize educational and social infrastructure. It also seeks to bolster economic and climate resilience in one of Cameroon’s most vulnerable regions, where the poverty rate stands at 74%.
The financing package comprises 85.3 billion CFA francs from the AfDB’s ordinary window and 3.8 billion CFA francs from the African Development Fund, its concessional lending arm. The project will be implemented across all six departments of the Far North region, employing an integrated and inclusive strategy.
Notably, CAP2E marks the first AfDB project in Cameroon to be financed under a results-based mechanism, meaning disbursements are contingent upon the achievement of predefined performance indicators.
“This project is a message of hope for thousands of Cameroonian men and women who aspire to a dignified life, decent employment, and a better future,” emphasized Léandre Bassolé, AfDB’s Director General for Central Africa. “It aims to transform a struggling region into a space of opportunity, innovation, and inclusive resilience.”
Beyond training in future-oriented professions, CAP2E includes strategic investments in promising sectors designed to revitalize the local economic landscape by promoting private sector-led development.
This new financing significantly strengthens the AfDB’s active portfolio in Cameroon, which as of March 10, 2025, comprised 28 projects valued at a total of $2.65 billion (approximately 1,600 billion CFA francs).
Frédéric Nonos
