AfDB approves US $44.3m for construction of Logone River Bridge in Cameroon

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved grants worth about US $44.3m to be used for the construction of Logone River Bridge. The Bridge will be constructed over the Logon River also known as the Logone River, a major tributary of the Chari River, and it is mainly meant to link the Republics of Cameroon and Chad, both in the central region of Africa.

The grants have been approved under a framework agreement known as the Pillar Assessed Grant or Delegation Agreement (PAGODA) between the Bank Group and the European Commission.

How the grants will be spend

The grants, comprising of over US$22.5M tranche for Cameroon and over US$20,8M for Chad will mainly be used to co-finance the costs of construction of Logone River Bridge between Yagoua, a town and commune in the Far North Province of Cameroon, and Bongor, a city and the capital of the region of Mayo-Kebbi Est in Chad, as well as the construction of access roads of the two regions and the feasibility studies involved.

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Upon completion, the bridge is expected to strengthen bilateral and sub-regional integration and cross-border trade between the two republics, reduce travel time and transportation costs, and improve accessibility of basic services by nearby communities.

Other projects under the Pillar Assessed Grant or Delegation Agreement (PAGODA)

Other than the Logone river bridge, the PAGODA also includes other projects such as the rehabilitation of the Lome-Cotonou road, road development and transport facilitation on the Bamako-San Pedro corridor between Mali and Côte d’Ivoire and the rehabilitation of the CU2a community road section in Burkina Faso near the border with Niger.

Both AfDB and the European Commission are devoted to co-financing development projects that tackle poverty by investing in critical infrastructure to promote seamless connectivity of transport, energy and ICT in the continent.