…total project cost put at $224m
Cameroon has applied for the sum of $73 million from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Union (EU), to enable the country deal with rural electrification and access to energy project in under-served areas in the Central African country.
Reports said that 585 of the 687 localities (Perace) listed in the project are located in the northern regions of Cameron.
Agence Ecofin said the overall cost of the rural electrification project is estimated at $223.5 million (131 billion FCFA). The agency said the current negotiations with the EIB and the EU cover a budget of $73.5 million (nearly 43 billion FCFA). This sum will complement the $150 million (about 88 billion FCFA) already made available by the World Bank, the report said yesterday.
Cameron’s ministry of water and energy, said last weekend that the Cameroonian government is in the last laps of negotiations with the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Union (EU), with a view to securing the funds.
Established in the Far North, North, Adamawa, North West, South West and East regions, Perace will extend over the period 2020-2026, and will allow electrify 687 localities across the country.
The funding provided by this Bretton Woods institution, we learned officially, will electrify 417 localities in the Far North, East, North West and South West regions, Agence Ecofin said.
The funding expected from the EIB and the EU will be used to implement the same project in the North (200 localities) and Adamaoua (70 localities).
According to the Cameroonian authorities, Perace not only aims to reduce the gap between the rate of electricity coverage in Cameroon (74%) and the rate of access to electrical energy in the country (around 50%), but also to increase the service to certain regions still lagging behind.
The Minister of Economy, on June 12, 2020 in Yaoundé, revealed that the coverage rate in certain Cameroonian regions is still below 50%. This is the case for the Far North, which claims an electricity coverage rate of only 46%. Ditto for his sister from the North. Adamaoua, the other region in the northern part of Cameroon, has a coverage rate of 52%, well below the 74% recorded elsewhere.
“It is with this reality that Perace, a project whose owner is the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), will benefit 86% in the northern regions of Cameroon. Indeed, we reveal to the Ministry of Water and Energy, out of the 687 localities in Cameroon targeted by Perace, 585 are located in the three northern regions, which are officially the poorest in Cameroon,” the minister said.
Chibisi Ohakah, Abuja
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