An inter-ministerial committee met in Yaounde recently to study the way forward.

It is exactly half a year since the Republic of Cameroon, represented by the Prime Minister, head of government signed a letter of intent with the Montreal-based multinational, Alcan Primary Metal Group to expand the activities of the latter and develop the aluminium industry in Cameroon.

The expansion project seeks to boost ALUCAM"s production capacity to 260,000 tonnes yearly, up from today's 100,000 tonnes. The letter of intent streamlines the following projects: modernizing and increasing the intensity of the existing plant in Edea; constructing a second set of electrolysis with a production capacity of 150,000 tonnes per year; and developing a new hydro-power station on River Sanaga at Nachtigal, with an installed capacity of about 33 MW, to cover part of ALUCAM"s energy needs.

The amount of investment to be harnessed is estimated at USD 900 million, equivalent to about CFAF 500 billion.

In a bid to concretise the letter of intent, the government has conceived a bauxite-Aluminium development project which will help boost ALUCAM's production. An inter-ministerial committee was created to follow up the development of the project. Last week, its members met in Yaounde to trace the path to follow.

Presided at by the Director of industries of the Ministry of Mines, Industries and Technological Development, Celestin Ndonga, the committee particularly discussed the importance of the project to Cameroon. Also of interest were the prerequisites for the success of the project, as agreed by government and ALCAN: namely: security in energy supply to the plant, which depends on the rehabilitation and reliability of existing power generation and distribution facilities, the commissioning of a new gas thermal station in Kribi, the construction of the Lom Pangar dam and the signing of a new long-term energy contract between ALUCAM and AES-SONEL; the upgrading of a number of transport infrastructure, such as the Douala Port, the railway, the Edea-Douala highway; conclusion of a new establishment convention between the State and ALUCAM, the quest for, negotiation and provision of resources necessary for financing investments under the project, based on a bankable feasibility file.