Cameroon and the African Development Bank Group have signed loan agreements worth €136 million to finance a programme aimed at building skills, creating jobs and modernising infrastructure in the country’s conflict-affected far north region.
The agreements for the Building Capacities and Skills for Employability and Entrepreneurship in the Extrême Nord Region” (CAP2E) were signed in Yaoundé by Cameroon’s Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Development Alamine Ousmane Mey, and the Bank’s Director General for Central Africa, Léandre Bassolé.
The financing package includes €130.2 million from the Bank’s non-concessional window and €5.8 million from its concessional lending arm, the African Development Fund. The five-year programme will support technical and vocational training for 6,000 young people, create at least 5,000 jobs, 40% of them for women, and provide backing for over 500 small and medium-sized businesses.
It will also fund the construction or rehabilitation of 22 training centres and 29 social facilities, expand access to health and education services, and support renewable energy solutions to strengthen climate resilience.
“The aim is to invest in human capital, strengthen the skills of local people and create job opportunities in promising sectors such as agriculture and renewables,” Minister Mey said at the signing ceremony. “The programme will help to promote shared prosperity, reduce inequalities and consolidate social stability, with particular attention to young people and women.”
Bassolé described the initiative as “a genuine catalyst for transformation” that would strengthen infrastructure, promote private sector entrepreneurship and support the solar energy sector. “Through this initiative, the Bank reaffirms its commitment to promoting the sustainable empowerment of young people and women by means of targeted, high-impact interventions.”
The programme aligns with Cameroon’s national development strategy, and the Bank’s 2023-2028 country strategy, and ties into the government’s Special Programme for the Reconstruction and Development of the Far North.
