China offers 145 boreholes to Cameroonian communities

Cameroonian authorities have attested to the quality of the construction of the boreholes. Photo by Cameroon Ministry of Water Resources and Energy

A ceremony to sign and hand over papers confirming the construction by China of 145 boreholes in 145 communities in the Centre and South regions of Cameroon held in the capital, Yaounde, on August 18. The project was launched in 2015.

Quality work

The documents were signed by the Chinese Ambassador to Cameroon, Wei Wenhua and Cameroon’s Minister of Water Resources and Energy, Dr Basile Atangana Kouna. The boreholes, equipped with hand-driven pumps, are gifts from the government of China to the people of Cameroon.

“This is the third set of gifts from China. They will significantly improve the living standards of people in beneficiary communities. We are quite satisfied with the quality of work carried out. On behalf of the Cameroonian government, I thank the Chinese government for this important gift,” Dr Basile Atangana Kouna told the press. The boreholes were constructed in 101 communities in the Centre region and 44 communities in the South region.

Growing Cameroon-China cooperation

Speaking in Yaounde last April 27 at a dinner for Cameroonian media, Ambassador Wei Wenhua revisited different areas of cooperation between China and Cameroon. He said the volume of trade between the two sides in 2016 was worth 1.96 billion US dollars, while China’s direct investments in Cameroon came up to 35.06 million US dollars during the same period.

A number of major infrastructure cooperation projects are going on in Cameroon. They include the Yaounde-Douala expressway, Kribi-Lolabe expressway, the water supply project from River Sanaga to Yaounde, the Bini-Warak hydro dam, low-cost housing estate projects, broadband project and the national telecommunications emergency plan.

The Mekin hydro dam whose construction ended in August 2016 is expected to soon start generating electricity. Last February, Cameroon and China signed a loan agreement for the construction of a power line from Memve’ele hydro dam to the national grid. Also earlier this year, the two sides signed another loan agreement for the second phase of the Kribi Deep Seaport.

China financed and executed other projects in Cameroon like the Yabassi agriculture technical high school and the rehabilitation of the Yaounde conference centre. An agreement was also signed to construct a new National Assembly building, another gift from China.

Cooperation between Cameroon and China has been growing over the years in various domains. 

Excellent ties, support of both Presidents

“The excellent relations between Cameroon and China are the fruit of the support of the leaders of our two countries. Like President Paul Biya said, China-Cameroon relations are strategic. China considers Cameroon a privileged partner in Africa, and we hope to work together to deepen friendly and mutually-beneficial cooperation ties in various areas for the benefit of our two peoples,” the Ambassador noted last April.

Kimeng Hilton Ndukong, a contributor to People’s Daily Online, is Sub-Editor for World News with Cameroon Tribune bilingual daily newspaper in Cameroon. He is currently a China-Africa Press Centre, CAPC fellow.