Cameroon has authorised the signing of a €347.5 million credit agreement with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, a branch of the World Bank, to finance the modernization of the corridor between Douala and Bangui. It is more than 1,400 km long and provides over 80 per cent of the country's foreign trade, according to the World Bank.
By a decree signed on 2 October, Cameroonian President Paul Biya authorized the Minister of Economy to conclude a credit agreement with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) of €347.5 million, or approximately $391 million.
This funding is Cameroon's contribution to a World Bank regional programme to improve the Douala-Bangui economic corridor. The axis connects the port of Douala to Bangui for more than 1,400 km and crosses Yaoundé, Bertoua and Garoua-Boulaï before joining the Central African Republic.
According to the World Bank, more than 80 per cent of Central African foreign trade takes this corridor, making it a major focus for the country's supply and trade with international markets.
The institution estimates that a journey between Douala and Bangui can last from 9 to 12 days under normal conditions and that the cost of transport can reach $270 per tonne.
His diagnosis also included 38 checkpoints on the Cameroon side of the corridor, 17 of which were associated with informal payments. Degradation of certain road sections and maintenance difficulties are also identified as constraints.
Cameroonian financing is part of a $1.12 billion regional programme approved by the World Bank in June 2026.
The first phase, estimated at $525 million, includes the reconstruction of approximately 164 km of National Highway 3 between Yaoundé and Édéa, with the correction of dangerous turns, the development of overtaking lanes and the installation of digital weighing stations.
The programme also includes studies on other sections of the corridor, as well as the development of service roads, logistics infrastructure and facilities to facilitate the transit of goods.
The Cameroonian government also authorized, by a second decree, the signing of a €212.4 million loan to the Islamic Development Bank to rehabilitate 218.9 km between Bekoko and Bandjoun on the Douala-Bafussam axis.
Both operations represent a total of more than €560 million in new funding for Cameroonian road infrastructure.
For the Douala-Bangui corridor, however, the World Bank stresses that the sustainable improvement of transport conditions will also depend on the maintenance of the network, the control of axle loads and the reduction of obstacles to the passage of goods.
