The African Development Bank (AfDB) and Cameroonian government on Friday signed a deal of 106 billion CFA francs (about $192 million) to construct a major ring road in the country’s restive Anglophone region of Northwest.
AfDB Central African Director General Serge N’Guessan said the bank had granted the loan as part of its commitment to help implement reforms and development projects in the region.
“Road is a backbone of development and you know that this region has a lot of potentials. The government and the bank are working together to make sure that this time, this road happens for the good of the population,” N’Guessan told reporters after the agreement was signed in the capital of Yaounde.
The ring road will link six of the seven divisions of the region and also facilitate trade with neighboring Nigeria upon completion, according to officials.
Cameroon authorities said that the road was an essential element of peace and reconciliation for the region that has been experiencing an armed separatist conflict since 2017.
“The people of the Northwest have been waiting for the ring road. Here finally it is,” Angwafo III Fru Fobuzshi, president of the Northwest Regional Council, said. “The elite and population will work together so that we can reap the fruits of this important agreement and make sure that the economic, social, and political development that we have been waiting for kicks off.”
