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Project to link Congo, Chad and Central African Republic by road underway

The construction of the asphalt road connecting the Congo, the Central African Republic and Chad is one of the integrative projects carried by the leaders of the Central Africa sub-region. Canceled last March because of the Covid-19 health crisis, the round table of donors is scheduled for this month of November, in Brazzaville.

Estimated at $ 1.7 billion, or approximately CFAF 955.4 billion, the asphalt road project will include some 1,310,311 km of corridor, 25.17 km of penetrates and 49.07 km of roads. It will also include the construction and asphalting of the sections of dirt road Ouesso-Bétou (Congo), Bétou-Mbaiki, and Bossembélé-Mbaikoro (RCA-Tchad), as well as the rehabilitation of the sections of the paved roads Mbaiki-Bangui and Bangui- Bossembélé (RCA).

The ambition of the Congolese government and other leaders of the Cémac zone is to ultimately allow increased inter-state economic exchanges; direct access to the port of Pointe-Noire where goods can transit from and to the Central African Republic and Chad; the development of natural resources and mineral wealth in the Central African region; the opening up of certain inaccessible areas and the reduction of poverty.

This issue was at the center of a panel hosted, on October 20, by the Minister of Planning, Regional Equipment and Major Works, Jean Jacques Bouya. The videoconference organized by La tribune Afrique around “the strategy to finance and strengthen African infrastructure” enabled the minister and other speakers to discuss the challenges related to public-private partnership (PPP), an innovative mode of financing.

According to Jean-Jacques Bouya, the difficulty for the PPP lies in the sharing of risks and the ability to bring investors together on the same project. “Regarding the Ouesso-Bangui-N’Djamena road project, the feasibility study has been fully completed and is only waiting for the mobilization of funding. When committing to a long-term project, it is also knowing how to share the risks. If there is any doubt, the option of PPP financing becomes more complex, “he said.

This is the challenge that the leaders of the sub-region are trying to meet in a few weeks. Apart from the construction and asphalting of this corridor, Cémac is seeking $ 1.3 billion for the construction of the Chollet dam, on the border between Cameroon and the Republic of Congo, a hydroelectric power station project with a capacity of 600 MW. It is mobilizing donors for its emblematic Brazzaville / Kinshasa road-rail bridge project, as well as for the construction of a dry port in Dolisie, in southern Congo, and another dry port in Beloko, in the west. of the Central African Republic.