China Eximbank provides $482.8 million preferential buyer credit for Phase 1 of Yaounde-Douala Highway Project

On March 8, 2012, China Eximbank and Cameroon's Ministry of Economy, Planning, and Regional Development (MINEPAT) signed a $482,800,000 preferential buyer credit (PBC) loan agreement [CHINA EXIMBANK PBC NO. (2012) 10TOTAL NO.(198) 1420303052012210261] for the first phase of the Yaounde-Douala highway project. This loan has a 20 year maturity, 7 year grace period, 2% interest rate, a 0.30% commitment fee, and a 0.30% management fee.On August 8, 2011 The Ministry of Public Works of the Republic of Cameroon and China First Highway Engineering Co. Ltd. (CFHEC), the contractor for this project, signed the commercial contract for Phase I worth $568,000,000 USD, for which the China Eximbank PBC loan will cover 85%.The Yaounde-Douala highway project project will facilitate the construction of a 215 km road linking Douala on the western coast with capital Yaounde. Phase I will involve construction of a 68.3 km long road, which will run from Yaoundé to Bot Makak/Bibodi. The six-lane highway will be the first new motorway since the country's independence. The project will replace the existing hazardous two-lane highway, and it aims to boost domestic and sub-regional trade as well as shorten the distance between Douala and Yaounde from 265 km to 215 km.Construction for Phase I began on April 15, 2014, and the original expected completion date was October 13, 2018; however, on April 29, 2014, it was reported that there was a protracted conflict between China First Highway Engineering Company Cameroon, CFHEC, and the Control Mission led by the SCET Tunisie/Louis Berger. The conflict, rooted in mutual misunderstanding, has led to tense accusations between parties that has left the project partially completed. The latest expected completion date from China MOFCOM is 2019. As of May 2019, Phase 1 of the project had been 74% completed, and the CFHEC estimated that Phase 1 of the project would be completed by 2020.

Additional details

1. The Chinese project title is 雅温得-杜阿拉高速公路建设项目一期. The French project title is Construction de l’autoroute Yaoundé-Douala - 1ère phase.2. The loan agreement can be accessed in its entirety via SourceID#67872 or https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/20485650-cmr_2012_176.3. The project ID number for this transaction in Cameroon's Development Assistance Database (DAD) is CAM/000814

Number of official sources

14

Number of unofficial sources

19