﻿10 most impressive Mega development projects in Cameroon 2021
In the early 1900s, the Germans constructed the Japoma Bridge
(also known as the Edea German Bridge) over the Sanaga River near Edea, Cameroon.
The steel arch bridge was designed and built by the Gutehoffnungshütte of Oberhausen.
The bridge was assembled in Germany prior to delivery to allow for testing.
It was then dismantled and shipped by boat to Cameroon in 1911.
It is 160m long and was the largest structure in Africa at the time of its erection.
Vertical columns beginning at the arch grille support the roadway. The arch's first half was
assembled on the ground, while the second half was constructed on floating barges and then assembled.
It survives in Cameroon as an architectural relic of the German colonial era.
The bridge's strategic location played a role in the First and Second Battles
of Edea during World War I. On 2 August 1937, the entire crew of the German ship
Wahehe paid the bridge a visit, with certain officers walking all the way up to the riverbank
in what was believed to be a reconnaissance of the area.
Until the early 1980s, the bridge served as the only crossing point for trains,
vehicles, and pedestrians over the Sanaga Rivery. It is now used as a pedestrian and bicycle path.
Cameroon today, officially known as the Republic of Cameroon is a country in west-central Africa.
It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the Central African
Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of the Congo to the south.
Its coastline lies on the Bight of Biafra, part of the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean. The
country is sometimes identified as West African and other times as Central African, due to its
strategic position at the crossroads between West and Central Africa. Its nearly 25 million people
speak 250 native languages. Large numbers of Cameroonians live as subsistence farmers.
The country is often referred to as "Africa in miniature" for its geological,
linguistic and cultural diversity. Its natural features include beaches, deserts, mountains,
rainforests, and savannas makes it a beautiful place for construction. Its cities with largest
populations are Douala on the Wouri River, its economic capital and main seaport;
Yaoundé its economic capital and Garoua. economic performance, with GDP growing at an average of
4% per year. During the 2004–2008 period, public debt was reduced from over 60% of GDP to 10% and
official reserves quadrupled to over US$3 billion. Unemployment was estimated at 3.38% in 2019,
and 23.8% of the population was living below the international poverty threshold of US$1.90
a day in 2014. Since the late 1980s, Cameroon has been following programmes advocated by
the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) to reduce poverty, privatise industries,
and increase economic growth. The government has taken measures to encourage tourism in the country
by funding construction projects which will make residents and the tourist who come to relax more
comfortable and as for the beautiful scenery Cameroon already got that covered. Cameroon
has some of the mega construction projects in central Africa. Infact, it accounts for half
of the top ten mega construction projects in Central Africa, according to the Africa
construction trends 2019 report. Here are 10 mega development projects Cameroon has undertaken to
improve its citizens standards of living. Welcome to THINKRICH MEDIA the community
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10. Nachtigal Hydroelectric Dam
The Nachtigal Hydroelectric Project will be constructed on the central course of Sanaga River,
situated some 65 km north east of Yaoundé. It is composed of Roller Compacted Concrete dams,
a headrace channel, a power plant with seven generating units, a generation substation
and a transmission line. The run-of-river hydropower plant has 420 megawatts capacity.
This strategic project for Cameroon is developed by the Cameroonian project company,
Nachtigal Hydro Power Company (NHPC). The shareholders to the company are the
Republic of Cameroon, Electricité de France (EDF) and International Finance Corporation
(IFC). The company endeavours to comply with best national and international practices in
terms of environmental and social management and infrastructure building. Upon completion,
the hydropower plant will generate approximately three terawatt-hours (3TWh) of electricity a year.
The construction phase is estimated to create more than 1,500 jobs. It is estimated that the
Hydropower plant will help in saving $100m in electricity generation costs in Cameroon. BESIX
is the main contractor, and Bouygues Energies and Services is the civil subcontractor.
9. Logone River Bridge
Chad and Cameroon share a long border, maintain excellent relations,
and trade mostly by land. They have identified strategic axes of socio-economic development
and projects to be implemented jointly as part of the sub-regional integration process;
the development of transport infrastructure is a priority and major projects are being initiated in
this area. The project includes the construction of a bridge over the Logone River between Bongor
in Chad and Yagoua in Cameroon, the construction of a connecting road of approximately 14,180
km on both sides between Yagoua and Bongor, as well as related developments.
The project is the first phase of the wider Regional Project Integrating the Road Network
in the Lake Chad Area, which aims to rehabilitate the National Road 2 (Magada-Yagoua) and the
National Road 1 (Moutourwa-Maroua), including the bypass of Maroua, and to provide for the
maintenance of the road from N'djamena to Bongor. The project will improve transport conditions and
reduce travel time and costs. The crossing of the river at all times and its safety will be ensured.
This will increase the movement of persons and goods between Cameroon and Chad, foster trade
and strengthen socio-cultural exchanges between the two countries. More broadly, the project will
contribute to regional integration in the fragile lake Chad region. In addition, economic activities
are expected to develop along the bridge and road.The EU contribution will co-finance
the bridge and associated socio-economic development. Razel-Bec is the main contrctor.
8. Lena Tibati Road
The Cameroon Ministry of Public Works is upgrading the 115-kilometre road between Lena
and Tibati. This project is part of a Transport Sector Support Programme. Phase I of this road
programme comprises the Batschenga-Ntui-Yoko-Lena road, which is approximately 248.6 km long. This
road is a segment of national highways NH15 (Batschenga-Tibati) and NH6 (Tibati-Mambal),
and provincial highway 15A (Mambal-Lewa). It runs through the Centre and Adamaoua Regions,
specifically straddling the Mbam et Kim (Ntui) and Djérem (Tibati) Divisions. The development of this
road is part of the Government’s efforts to channel produce from the Mbam-Sanaga
agricultural basin to the main consumption centres of the Central African Economic
and Monetary Community (CEMAC), through the Yaoundé-Ndjamena-Bangui, Yaoundé-Libreville-Bata
and Yaoundé-Ouesso-Brazzaville road corridors. Apart from serving as a national road,
the project road is a strategic alternative route for national and/or international traffic
between the northern and southern regions of Cameroon and to Chad. Upgrading this road
segment and reducing its length should therefore help to boost the competitiveness of the road,
as compared to other corridors, and consolidate the status of the project area as a transit
point. The works scheduled include related activities such as the development of rural roads,
the rehabilitation of socioeconomic infrastructure and the promotion of business
activities for women. The project also addresses the institutional support needs of the transport
and urban development sectors with a view to ensuring complementarity and diversification
of the Bank's operations in Cameroon. The duration of project implementation is 4 years and the total
project cost is estimated at UA 333.031 million. Works include a seven-metre wide carriageway
and five bridges. Sogea Satom Cameroon is the primary contractor on this project.
7. Yaounde Hyatt Regency Hotel
American brand Hyatt Regency Hotel plans to build a 5-star hotel in Yaoundé.
For that purpose, the Cameroonian company Glenview SA signed a 35-year lease, binding it with the
government on September 5, 2019. Patrick Shey, head of Glenview, reveals that the Yaoundé Hyatt
Regency hotel will require an investment of $150 million (close to XAF90 billion). It will be a
31-storey building with 300 high-standing rooms, 100 apartments for long stay, 9 conference rooms.
The hotel whose construction period is 30 months will also have a heliport.Cameroon
is providing a secured property tax base (…) on which the hotel can be built. The more than
1-hectare land is about hundred meters from Lac Municipal. Patrick Shey also announced the future
construction of a Hyatt Regency hotel in Kribi. Cost of the construction is XAF45 billion.
6. Yaounde Douala Highway
The Yaoundé-Douala highway is a modern road network of 196 km connecting the country's two
largest cities. The estimated cost of the first phase of its construction is XAF338.7 billion VAT.
Phase 1 of this project consists of building a 60-kilometer 2 x 2-lane freeway (extendable to
3 lanes) from kilometer point 0 to the Bibodi interchange. This implementation of this first
phase was greatly delayed because of right-of-way release problems as well as financial challenges.
For instance, on February 22, 2021, in Yaoundé, when Minister of Public Works
Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi was assessing the state of the road being built in the country,
the contractors active on the Yaoundé-Douala highway estimated that the government still
owed them XAF33.39 billion for this project. Cameroon plans to commission the first 60
kilometers of the Yaoundé-Douala highway before the AFCON2021, which will start in January 2022.
This was revealed by Benoît Parfait Mbole Mbole, Head of the Infrastructures Department of the
Ministry of Public Works during a field visit on April 6, 2021. However, to fulfill its ambition,
the country will have to address numerous challenges. For instance, it will have to
complete the construction of the first section of the highway. Also, the connection facilities need
to be completed to connect the first section to the Yaoundé road axis and the Nationale 3
(at Boumnyebel). Next, the country will have to build functional infrastructure (tolls, weighing
stations, rest and service areas as well as emergency lanes), and sign a concession contract
for the operation of this section of the highway. 5. Douala Grand Mall
The Douala Grand Mall is a commercial center with 18 000 Sqm of lettable area. It embodies
a multiplex of 5 cinemas of 1000 seats, a Carrefour Supermarket, 160 shops and stores,
22 restaurants, a spa, 640 parking places on the first phase. The second phase, the Business Park,
will be having a five-star hotel and offices. The project dubbed “The Douala Grand Mall and Business
Park” is a grade-A mixed use infrastructure, developed by Actis in the local subsidiary
“Douala Retail and Convention Centre”, DRCC. Expected to cost $0.20 billion,The Douala
Grand Mall is also among 5 mega construction projects in Cameroon.
4.Japoma Stadium
Also appearing on the to 10 mega construction projects in Cameroon is the Japoma Stadium.
Also known as Stade omnisport de Douala (official name), the project will be located in the Japoma
locality in Douala. It will be a 50,000-capacity all-seater stadium which also will have basketball
courts, handball volleyball and tennis courts, an olympic swimming pool of 8 lanes,
conference centres, commercial centers, a four star luxury hotel and a parking lot.
The stadium will be mostly used for football but it will also have an athletic track.
The Japoma Stadium is expected to cost around $143 million with 75 percent of the project financed
by the Türk Eximbank. It will also host some matches during the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
3. Olembe Sports Complex, Yaounde The Olembe sports complex involves the
construction of an ultramodern recreation facility in Younde. Construction started in earnest in 2019
when main contractor Magil transported the first contingent of equipment to the site.
The project will include construction of Paul Biya stadium with a capacity of 60,000 seats
(all covered), two training stadiums, with 1,000 seats each, a gymnasium, handball, basketball,
volleyball, tennis, an Olympic swimming pool, a 5 star hotel with 70 rooms, a shopping mall, a
museum and a cinema. The Paul Biya Stadium, named after President Paul Biya, is currently under
construction on a surface area of 34 hectares (84 acres) in the Olembe neighborhood in Yaounde, some
13 km (8.1 mi) from the city center. The project is estimated to cost $0.28 billion to construct.
2. Limbe-Douala-Edea-Yaounde Hydrocarbon Pipeline Project
It is a 355 km-long pipeline under construction in Cameroon. The first 110 km section which will
connect Limbé, in the Southwest, to Douala, in the littoral. After the Douala-Limbé section,
the 3PL consortium heading the project will build another section linking Douala to Edéa,
and covering 70 Km, which will followed by one between Edéa and Yaoundé a bit longer (175 km).
Funds for this project will be provided by a set of investors from Korea, Switzerland, China,
Russia, Nigeria, etc. which will invest 30% of the capital; the rest will be borrowed from banks.
The project will cost $0.35 billion to construct. 1. Sonara expansion project, Limbe
This is the largest and most expensive project under construction in Cameroon.The project
involves the construction and modernisation a mega refinery plant in Limbe. It is being spearheaded
by a consortium of French firms Suez SA, Sogea Satom, and Ingenica who are providing technology
licensing, engineering, and construction services on the 2.1 million-tonne/year Sonara refinery in
Limbe. Though the volume of this anticipated production increase has not been revealed,
it is expected that after the completion of both phases of the expansion and modernisation works at
Sonara, yearly production of this refinery should increase by about 1.4-million tons.
The first phase will cost $0.47 billion to construct.