WASHINGTON, November 5 2009: The World Bank Board of Executive Directors today approved an additional financing of 217 million US dollar to help ensure the completion and expansion of critical rail and road links in Cameroon and the Central African Republic under the CEMAC Transport and Trade Facilitation Project.
The overall project development objective (PDO), approved in 2007, is to facilitate regional trade among the Central Africa Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) Member States and improve the Central African Republic’s, the Republic of Cameroon’s and the Republic of Chad’s access to world markets. This objective is to be achieved mostly through support to the CEMAC Customs Union, coupled with facilitation measures and investment in road and rail infrastructure along the Douala-Bangui and the Douala-N’Djaména corridors.
– The additional financing of the project will secure the achievement of the PDO by bridging funding gaps and providing rehabilitation of additional rail and road infrastructure on both corridors to improve their efficiency, said Jean-Francois Marteau, Task Team Leader for the project.
– The World Bank acts in conjunction with and in support to the European Commission, France and the African Development Bank, which reflects the high degree of collaboration between these institutions, he added.
Transport costs in central Africa are among the highest on the Continent. For Chad and the CAR, both landlocked countries, transit costs represent 52 per cent and 33 per cent of the value of exports respectively. Road travel from Douala, Cameroon –the main port and regional gateway– currently takes about 15 days to N’Djamena, Chad and 10 days to Bangui, CAR. The proposed project and the additional financing activities will help reduce transit time by at least twenty per cent along corridors and also improve transport conditions, which should also lead to a decrease in transport costs.
