Cameroon has secured fresh financing for the long-delayed Ebolowa-Akom II-Kribi road project, reviving infrastructure plans that have remained largely stalled for more than a decade.
On May 15 in Yaoundé, Economy Minister Alamine Ousmane Mey signed a CFA130.4 billion loan agreement with Standard Chartered Bank for the construction of the road corridor in the country’s South Region.
With the latest agreement, total financing mobilized from the London-based bank for the project now reaches CFA138.2 billion.
Stretching more than 160 kilometers, the Ebolowa-Akom II-Kribi road has been on the government’s infrastructure agenda since 2011, when President Paul Biya announced the project during an agricultural fair in Ebolowa.
Since then, the project has faced repeated delays, officially linked to difficulties securing financing.
Yet construction plans had already advanced several years ago. In March 2022, Cameroon awarded the contract to Italian company ICM Construction through a direct agreement with the Ministry of Public Works. At the time, authorities projected a 36-month construction timeline.
The road is expected to improve access between agricultural production areas in southern Cameroon and the deep-water Port of Kribi, which has become one of the country’s main strategic infrastructure projects.
Officials also see the corridor as part of a broader regional trade network connecting Cameroon to neighboring countries including Congo, Gabon, Chad, and the Central African Republic.
Speaking during the signing ceremony, Alamine Ousmane Mey said the project should help strengthen regional connectivity while improving the movement of goods to and from Kribi.
The road fits into Cameroon’s broader strategy of positioning the Port of Kribi as a logistics hub for Central Africa.
The remaining question is whether the newly secured financing will finally allow construction to begin after nearly 15 years of delays.
BRM
