Beacons of Emergence Now Very Visible Indeed

The inauguration of construction work on the second Wouri bridge and the opening of the Ndogpassi gas plant are indicators that the move towards emergence is on in earnest.

The dust raised by the three-day stay of the President Paul Biya will take very long in settling, on the one hand because of the huge developmental package he brought along and which will greatly impact on the socio-economic life of residents and the over-all effects the inauguration of the two projects will have in jumpstarting and even giving more steam to the move towards economic emergence status by 2035.

The road to emergence requires quality. And here, the few projects so far inaugurated by the President of the Republic are characterized by their orientation to meet modern standards. After all, is it not said that old fresh wine cannot be served in old wine containers? It is for this reason that most of the projects inscribed in the Greater Accomplishments package are new, with only a few exceptions dealing with rehabilitation. The President's joke about making the old Wouri bridge a passage for just two-wheel vehicles or pedestrians must be taken in the context of his desire to contrast the new bridge that is in the making and the futuristic configuration, compared to the old bridge. So, in fact, the President was not saying that the old bridge will be knocked out; rather, he was humourously saying that once it is in use, memories of the old bridge will rather recall an image of the old.

The new bridge and the Ndogpassi gas projects are, granted, the major face-lifting edifices Douala is receiving, but there are other significant ones which all sum up to vindicating the President's desire the attain economic emergence status even earlier than the projected 2035. Take Douala. Just a few metres away from the second bridge inauguration site is the giant Dangote cement factory which is expected to start production next year with a capacity of One million tonnes of cement annually. Then just across the bridge in the Bonaberi neighbourhood is another cement plant, CIMAF with a capacity of 500 000 tonnes with the first sacs ready before the end of the year. Current national cement production is at around 900 000 tonnes, so the coming unto the scene of the two new producers, will greatly ease the access of locals to cement and boost the construction industry.

Even if the President of the republic was not in Douala for these other projects, his message to the private sector, as an important accompaniment to government's efforts in the attainment of Vision 2035, cannot be over-emphasized; beginning with cement which the basis of all construction initiatives. It is significantly from Douala that the President of the Republic announced other important construction projects which will all sum up to contributing to the attainment of emergence status. Within Douala itself, the intention is to take further northwards work on the Boulevard de la République with the aim of opening up the vast residential areas of Akwa-North and making traffic relatively easier to join the business and administrative districts of Akwa and Bonanjo. Other important projects with immediate impacts on the population are about opening up other enclaved areas and the construction of modern markets to lodge the growing army of business people. The medium term costs of these projects stand at over FCFA1000 Billion and the current projects under execution are valued at over FCFA400 Billion.

The President's stay in Douala provided a launching pad for a number of other life-changing projects around the country with special emphasis on roads, low-cost housing and energy. The most significant are the Yaounde-Douala expressway, the Kumba-Mamfe highway, the Ring road, the Foumban-Manti highway, completion of the Meiganga-Ngaoundéré highway and the rehabilitation of the Garoua-Kousséri highway.

With the energy projects underway, these other projects, many of which are operational, are the best proof that the road to emergence has effectively begun and the President's visit to Douala reaffirmed that political will.