AfDB President Lays Foundation Stone of Lom Pangar Dam Power Plant

18 July 2017
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African Development Bank (Abidjan)

On Sunday 17 July 2017, The President of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, laid the foundation stone of the Lom Pangar Dam power plant in the département of Lom-et-Djerem in eastern Cameroon.

The visit to Lom Pangar included top government officials, ministers of Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Louis Paul Motaze; Water and Energy, Atangana Kouna Basile; Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries, Taiga; and the Minister of Special Duties and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Electricity Development Corporation (EDC), Victor Mengot. The event was also attended by the Managing Director of EDC, Theodore Nsangou, local authorities and community leaders as well as senior AfDB staff.

The Minister of Water and Energy warmly welcomed the new 30 megawatts plant, noting that 10 million Cameroonians do not have access to electricity - a population that needs the support of the Cameroonian State and donor funds. "The Eastern Region of Cameroon is keen to have projects related to all the High 5 priorities, because that is the region that has suffered the most from population movements from neighbouring countries," the Minister of Economy added, further highlighting "the importance of this dam for Cameroon." He said that the new plant will enable the "electrification of 150 villages."

In Cameroon on a three-day official visit, the AfDB President welcomed "this wonderful project that will enable 10,000 additional households to access electricity in the Eastern Region. "With the construction of this electricity plant, we are entering the implementation phase, the real phase, that will connect schools, hospitals and SMEs and support Cameroon's economy," Adesina added.

"The AfDB is committing US$135 million to Cameroon's energy projects, enabling 500,000 households to access electricity in Cameroon in 2017," he said. "This commitment will continue, because I can assure you that the Bank will become involved in every key and energy project in Cameroon."

The Lom Pangar power plant project is co-financed by the French Agency for Development (CFAF 39.353 billion), AfDB (CFAF 34.792 billion), the World Bank (CFAF 64.820 billion), the Development Bank of the Central African States (CFAF 20 billion) and the European Investment Bank (CFAF 19.679 billion).

Construction of the Lom Pangar power plant forms part of the AfDB portfolio in Cameroon. It is a key project within the strategy to develop the hydro-electric potential of the river Sanaga, which includes construction of a reservoir dam designed to fully supply the Song Loulou power plant (335 MW) in times of low flow and to increase production at the Edea power plant (224 MW).

The plant will increase the availability of electricity for households in the départements of Lom Pangar, Bertoua-Batouri and Abong-Mbang and respond to growing electricity demand in the country.

Read the original article on African Development Bank (AfDB).

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