The conclusions of the study are simply revolutionary while the sums envisaged are as startling as they are whopping. If all goes according to plan, Cameroon could, in a very short time, take its present 987 kilometres of railroads to an impressive 3,269.3 kilometres! In the plan, localities such as Wum, Jakiri, Foumban, Limbe, Kribi-Lolabe and, even Kousseri in the northernmost tip of the country would be served with railways. Of course, the new minefields, especially in the East Region, are being given pride of place. These include Gamboula, Mintom and Ngoyla where iron ore has been discovered in huge quantities and mining virtually started.
In the very short term, two projects are envisaged: Douala-Limbe (73.5 kms) and Douala-Ngaoundere (907.5 kms) for which feasibility studies are already on and should end this year, 2012. In the middle term, the towns of Kousseri, Kumba, Wum, Gamboula, Foumban, Bafoussam, Mora, Ngoyla, Jakiri and Mintom will benefit from this new mode of transport. The new plan is designed to ensure an effective link with Cameroon’s immediate neighbours and even beyond, extending to Angola and the DRC.
The project is attracting sums that have never been heard before or which are even difficult to decipher. The total for all the envisaged projects is an unpronounceable figure of FCFA 14,976.5 Billion (or FCFA 14,976,500,000,000). No one, even the greatest enthusiasts, can quickly believe the government is pulling the rabbit out of the hat as a solution to the painful transportation problems in the country. But it is not pulling the wool over the eyes of ordinary citizens either! However, this seemingly gargantuan enterprise can be successfully carried out.
With regard to financing, development partners are handy and are warming up to take the projects under the BOT (Build Operate and Transfer) system. Moreover, past experiences have demonstrated the capacity of the national economy to generate money from within, notably within the framework of the Treasury Bonds system. In 2010, this system demonstrated its efficacy rather well, when the government was able to raise FCFA 200 Billion from the local financial market to finance the great face-lifting projects underway across the country.
On the other hand, the provision of these railway lines is a condition sine-qua-non for the realisation and sustenance of some of the huge mining and deep sea port projects which are part of efforts to raise Cameroon to an emerging economy status by 2035. Beyond that, new lines are also planned for areas with intensive agriculture and stockbreeding which will see farm and animal products easily getting to markets.
Citizens must impose a psychological shift in their mind settings to incorporate this new and ambitious manner of going about development planning, for, all too often, our planners have been too timid and limited in their ambitions. We ought to begin to think big. And in the railway sector, such a change of mind setting is compelling as a decline has been observed in the functioning of railways in the country. From 1,104 kilometres in 1995, the number of lines has been reduced to 987 kilometres today. Erstwhile bustling lines as the Douala-Nkongsamba or Mbanga-Kumba are today out of use. Mbalmayo and Nkongsamba which were boisterous railway terminus cities only a few years ago, have been cut off. And there is also a heritage problem. Our forefathers paid dearly for these lines, going as far as losing their lives in the hardship of building these lines under the forceful labour or “Njogmassi” system of decried fame. Many will definitely smile in their tombs to see their endeavour continued in this way.
These economic and emotional considerations amply justify the building of these new railways.
