At 50th anniversary celebration: EU Ambassador counts achievements of presence in Cameroon.

The ceremony at the EU office in Yaounde was organised May 9. The EU, also known as Team Europe, comprises countries like Germany, Italy, Spain, and Belgium. 

It was attended by the Minister of External Relations, Mbella Mbella; Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ketcha Courtes; Minister of Women’s Empower and the Family, Marie Therese Abena Ondoa; Minister of Trade, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana; Minister of Communication, Rene Emmanuel Sadi. 

It was also attended by host of diplomatic officials and high-profile guests.

In his keynote address, the EU ambassador took the guests on an exclusive journey to the core of the EU-Cameroon partnership 50 years on. He listed a number of projects and programmes that Team Europe has been able to achieve since its effective presence in Cameroon. 

For over 50 years, he said the EU has been the principal partner for Cameroon in the construction of road networks in the country with the likes of the Garoua Boulai-Nandeke Highway, a 86km stretch of road linking the town of Garoua Boulai in the East Region to Ngaoundere in the Adamawa region, as well as the 384km Ngaoundere-Touboro-Moundou road, a vital corridor for trade facilitation between Cameroon, Chad and Central Africa Republic.

Other road infrastructures carried out with support from the EU include the Victoria (Limbe)-Kumba, Bertoua- Garoua Boulai, Yaounde-Ayos, Bamenda-Bafousam, Ngaoundere-Garoua and Pitoa-Figuil roads.

The EU has also collaborated with the French Development Agency, AFD, for the Yaounde-Mbalmayo road and the bridges over the Ntem and Ambam rivers in the South Region; as well as with the German bank, KFW, for the Sanaga rail road bridge and the Edea-Kribi road.

“As the new Pope Leo XIV said in his inaugural message, we should build bridges between people and not walls. The EU is trying to work with Cameroon and countries of the subregion to build these bridges and not walls,” Ambassador Chataigner said as he began assessing EU-Cameroon ties.

“We are trying to work in energy and digital space, but we are also working on building bridges. Two years ago, we inaugurated the Cross River Bridge between Cameroon and Nigeria, few weeks ago we inaugurated the bridge over the Logone River between Cameroon and Chad,” he pointed out, before indicating plans of a project to build a new bridge between Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea called the Ntem Bridge. 

The ceremony was crowned by the inauguration of digital hub at the EU Office. This digital hub, according to the EU diplomat, is aimed at facilitating the sharing of information on EU projects carried out in the different parts of Cameroon.

“It is a very important hub to show what we are doing because we are doing a lot of projects across Cameroon, but people from Bamenda or Douala don’t know what is being done in other parts of the country and vice versa. But we are doing projects in each of these cities. We are trying to exchange on these projects because a great project built in a given area could be replicated elsewhere,” he further mentioned. 

MINREX boss hails EU presence

Speaking to the press at the end of the event, the Minister of External Relations Mbella Mbella, saluted the various achievements of the European Union in the country, especially in the realisation of major projects.

“Even in the life of a couple, 50 years is a moment to be magnified and saluted,” the minister said.

“There have been major realisations like the EU Ambassador cited. First of all, you have infrastructures and others which the Ambassador described as Gateway Global projects; that is projects that enable our country to connect with other surrounding nations, thus making the country become what the Head of State has always described as a vibrant economic hub,” he added.

The minister also assured the EU ambassador and Team Europe of government’s commitment to remain very available and sensitive to all projects that they are implementing.

According to the minister, the efforts of the EU are a major boost for the country towards achieving its vision of an emergent economy by the year 2035.

The minister equally expressed delight for Team Europe making Cameroon a development target with infrastructural projects that link the country to neighbouring nations like Chad, Nigeria, Central African Republic and Equatorial Guinea. 

“I am very pleased as the minister to have really noticed the dimension or huge realisations being carried out in Cameroon by Team Europe,” MINREX boss said.

The fiftieth anniversary culminated in a gala ceremony at the EU Ambassador’s residence in Bastos-Yaounde. It was marked by artistic performances celebrating the different achievements of Team Europe in Cameroon.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3447 of Tuesday May 13, 2025