Cameroon Chad bridge
The bridge will be built between Yagoua in Cameroon and Bongor in Chad. Credit: Anders Jildén on Unsplash.

The African Development Bank Group’s board of directors has given its approval to provide grants worth €40.94m ($44.2m) for the construction of a bridge that will link Cameroon with Chad across the Logone River.

Out of the grants approved, a €20.785m tranche, is for Cameroon, while €19.215m is meant for Chad.

The grants have been provided from the Investment Facility for Africa under a framework agreement between the African Development Bank Group and the European Commission.

These grants will help to co-finance the bridge construction costs and carry out feasibility studies.

The bridge will be constructed between Yagoua in Cameroon and Bongor in Chad.

Once completed, the bridge is expected to boost bilateral trade, protect lives and property during river crossings and increase the sociocultural ties between the two countries.

A report to the board noted: “Specifically, the project aims to promote interstate trade, particularly between Cameroon and Chad, reduce travel time and transportation costs, and improve accessibility of basic services by nearby communities.”

Besides the Logone River bridge, other projects under the Pillar Assessed Grant or Delegation Agreement (PAGODA) consist of Lome-Cotonou road rehabilitation, road development and transport facilitation on the Bamako-San Pedro corridor between Mali and Côte d’Ivoire, and the rehabilitation of the CU2a community road section in Burkina Faso.

The African Development Bank Group and the European Commission stated that they are committed to co-financing development projects to mitigate poverty by investing in essential infrastructure to promote transportation, energy and ICT.