Cameroon and the World Bank (WB) signed a financing agreement of 36 billion FCFA on January 26 in Yaoundé. The agreement was signed by the Minister of the Economy, Planning and Territorial Development (MINEPAT), Alamine Ousmane Mey, who represented the Cameroonian side, and the director of operations of the World Bank, Abdoulaye Seck, for the World Bank
This money should help “strengthen resilience and livelihoods in this area (Lake Chad Basin) located on the border of four countries: Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria and Chad”
The development objective of this project is to contribute to the recovery of the Lake Chad area by supporting regional coordination and crisis prevention, connectivity and agricultural livelihoods in the selected provinces in Cameroon, Chad and Niger. According to Abdoulaye Seck, “Cameroon, like its neighbors, is committed to bringing prosperity back to this very important area. And the World Bank is happy to join in,”
Also, our colleague notes that this project has several components. “The first is the platform for regional and national coordination, and local capacity building. It focuses on improving the mitigation and prevention of crises and conflicts in the Lake Chad area as well as strengthening the regional response. The second component focuses on restoring mobility and rural connectivity, the objective here being to improve communities’ access to markets and socio-economic services. The contingent emergency response component, for its part, sets up a contingency fund in the event of a disaster “.
Thus, among the key results of this project, figure prominently: “increased level of income for about 40,000 people living in the Lake Chad area of Cameroon; but also the capacity building of 680 researchers, teachers and students from research institutes and the University of Maroua.”
