While 2023 was full of economic regrets and pleas on the African continent, 2024 sounds like a new start for development. This is illustrated in Cameroon and Ivory Coast, where the Nachtigal hydroelectric dam and the Abidjan metro will be inaugurated this year.
2023 has come and gone with its share of economic and climate challenges. In 2024, it’s time for concrete development solutions. These include the construction of energy and public transport infrastructure to respond effectively to the needs of major cities on the African continent. These include the Abidjan metro in Ivory Coast and the Nachtigal dam in Cameroon. These two long-standing projects, both very costly and promising for the daily lives of thousands of people, are due to come on stream this year.
At an investment cost of 1.1 billion CFA francs (1.7 billion euros), the Abidjan metro is co-financed by loans from the French Treasury. The first line, designed to link the northern districts of the economic capital and Félix Houphouët-Boigny international airport, will serve at least 540,000 Ivorians. The work is being carried out by the Société de transports abidjanais sur rail (STAR) in partnership with the French engineering multinationals Alstom and Colas Rail. The future metro is expected to create 2,000 local jobs. However, no information has yet been released about the exact month of its inauguration.
New infrastructure for development
As for the Nachtigal hydroelectric project in Cameroon, it will be operational in 2024, barring any changes, since the work is almost complete. It is by far the most expensive energy investment in the history of this Central African country. It is worth €1.2 billion, more than half of which comes from loans from the French Development Agency (AFD), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the World Bank via the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and British International Investment (BII), to name but a few development partners.
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The handover of this project, which is being carried out by Nachtigal Hydro Power Company (NHPC), 40%-owned by Électricité de France (EDF), is eagerly awaited because the project has been underway since 2006. And above all, because 30% of Cameroon’s national electricity production is generated by this hydroelectric scheme, comprising a dam and a six-turbine power station with a combined capacity of 420 MW.
Benoit-Ivan Wansi
