Ecobank is seeking to position itself in road maintenance and major infrastructure projects in Cameroon through a proposed partnership with the Road Fund. Sylvestre Ouattara, head of the CEMAC cluster at Ecobank Cameroon, met on January 20 in Yaoundé with Road Fund administrator Aubin Esaïe Moussa to outline potential areas of cooperation between the two institutions.
According to a statement from the Road Fund, Ecobank, drawing on its experience with road maintenance funds in other African countries, including the Côte d’Ivoire Road Maintenance Fund, aims to support the Cameroonian institution in the collection and mobilization of resources, as well as in financing road projects.
Within this framework, the bank says it is ready to act on two fronts: improving mechanisms for collecting and mobilizing resources, and structuring financing for large-scale construction or rehabilitation projects. The Road Fund notes that Ecobank’s ambition is to support both revenue strengthening and access to financing suited to capital-intensive investments.
A public entity in the road infrastructure sector, the Road Fund finances road maintenance and ensures payment to contractors. Its operations are organized around two windows: a “maintenance” window dedicated to routine and periodic upkeep of the road network, and an “investment” window responsible for financing and paying for road development and rehabilitation works.
Despite a presidential decree issued in July 2025 that strengthened and expanded its mandate, the institution continues to face tight resources to cover road maintenance and settle payments. Its 2026 budget is set at CFA50 billion, more than CFA11 billion lower than the CFA61.5 billion allocated in 2025.
The gap between needs and available funding remains wide. In 2025, the Road Fund estimated that maintaining the national road network required CFA1,097 billion. By contrast, resources mobilized for the 2025 campaign from the public investment budget and the Road Fund amounted to about CFA100 billion, according to the figures cited.
In this context, a partnership with Ecobank could help the Road Fund strengthen its position in funding markets dedicated to road maintenance by improving its ability to secure resources, smooth cash flow needs, and support the programming of works.
Ludovic Amara
