The government of Cameroon and the Cameroon Oil Transportation Company (COTCO) have signed a pre-financing agreement for the latter to adapt the Chad-Cameroon Pipeline to the new situation requested by the construction of the Lom Pangar Dam in the confluence of Rivers Lom and Pangar in the East Region of the country. As hitherto designed, the reservoir created by the Lom Pangar dam was to flood some 26 km of the Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline, disrupting local communities and ecosystems given the presence of the Deng Deng forest. The FCFA 49.4 billion accord was signed last Friday February 17 for government by the Minister of Finance, Alamine Ousmane Mey, while COTCO’s General Manager, Christian Lenoble, signed for his company. Other stakeholders like the Ministers of Water and Energy Resources, Forestry and Wildlife, Mines, Industries and Technological Development and the Electricity Development Corporation (EDC) were also in attendance to endorse the accord.

By the accord, Citibank, an exco agent, will liaise to ensure that the terms are respected. According to Citibank’s General Manager, Akin Dada, “The two parties have agreed on the disbursement and we will keep the funds throughout the time the parties will take and put in the project. COTCO as the responsible company for the project will be disbursing. The disbursement is still subject to the agreement of the two parties,’ he said.

Speaking during the ceremony, Finance Minister said the accord marked an important step in the finalisation of the financing of the project. “What Cameroonians can expect from this accord is that in 2014 the Lom Pangar Dam will be realised according to our timeline,” Mr Ousmane Mey said. According to COTCO’s general Manager, a call for tenders will be launched next month, work will begin in April, 2012 and end in June 2014, one month ahead of July 2014 when the dam is expected to release its first waters.

As at now, funding is still being awaited from three of the five donor agencies and sources say the signing until now of a pre-financing agreement between government and COTCO for the project to adapt to the Chad-Cameroon Pipeline largely contributed to the delay.