Reconstruction, dev´t of Far North: Gov’t raises 800 billion FCFA to execute giant projects.

The assurance was given in Yaounde Monday by the Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Alamine Ousmane Mey.

He was speaking while chairing the second session of PSRDREN. The minister said because President Biya has placed his current seven-year mandate as one of great achievements, he introduced the PSRDREN programme to transform the Far North Region. The entire project has an estimated investment of some 1,600 billion FCFA. He said when the project was introduced last year, government mobilised some 600 billion FCFA. 

The amount increased during the 2026 execution period to nearly 800 billion FCFA. With the substantial financial allocations, Minister Ousmane Mey said Maroua has already witnessed a tremendous face lift. 

Meanwhile, a modern bridge has been constructed over the Logone River creating a modern, safer and easier link between Yagoua in Cameroon and Bongor in the Republic of Chad.

He commended development, technical and financing partners for taking deep interest in the PSRDREN, with some of them taking responsibility to execute specific projects. 

Minister Ousmane Mey cited the African Development Bank, AfDB Group that has opted to construct the section of road linking Mora-Waza, to Dabanga-Kouserri.

He also cited another project to open the Magada-Kaele-Yagwa- Maroua-Moutourwa-Magada-Kaele-Yagoua corridor. The MINEPAT boss also announced that the Governor’s office in Maroua will witness a facelift this year. 

He said the aim of all the projects is to bring the Far North population into the main stream of national economy, as Cameroon strives to become an emerging nation by 2035.

Key components of PSRDREN

Minister Ousmane Mey delved into the specific aspects of some of the PSRDREN component projects. He said the community infrastructure component aims at enhancing connectivity, resilience and inclusion with a total cost of 236 billion FCFA. He said it is jointly funded by the World Bank and the government. 

The minister said it targets the improvement of community infrastructure in crisis-affected areas, particularly for the benefit of internally displaced persons and communities hosting IDPs.

There is a component that aims at institutional reinforcement of the transport sector, and scaling up emergency interventions. The socioeconomic component is expected to act as a major lever for the region´s economic and social transformation. 

With a total budget outlay of 157 billion FCFA, the project aims to improve mobility, enhance the attractiveness of local areas and stimulate the development of the local private sector through strategic investments in infrastructure and support of economic stakeholders.

While the socioeconomic aspect is being implemented by the Coordination Unit of PSRDREN, the roads component is under the Ministry of Public Works. 

The human capital component targets the building of capacities to unveil and upgrade skills for employability and entrepreneurship. This is funded by the AfDB Group, to the tune of 89.2 billion FCFA.

The project to support the competitiveness of Regional Agro-industrial sector is tasked with harnessing agricultural potential and strengthening trade in the Central African sub region. 

It has a budget of 2.5 billion FCFA, and has as special focus or priority, to increase production of first-class protein through increased production of meat, fish and poultry with cereals, fruits and vegetables as additives. 

The sustainable development project for irrigation and agricultural value chains, aims to mitigate against adverse effects of climate change. 

Improving the management of water resources, to ensure food security, stabilise the incomes of farmers and other rural households, and developing resilient agriculture.

While the Islamic Development Bank has provided 26.61 billion FCFA for the project, government and the AfDB Group are also providing undisclosed amounts of funding.

There are also ongoing projects to construct multi-purpose hillside dams, to offset the challenge of irregular water supply, in some parts of the region. 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3896 of Tuesday September 01, 2026