Italian president to visit Cameroon in mid-March

The President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, is due in Cameroon for a four-day official visit which starts on 16 March, according to reliable sources on Tuesday.

Although the agenda of the visit has not yet been made public, the Italian leader is expected to meet local authorities and hold face-to-face talks with his Cameroonian counterpart Paul Biya.

Through the course of his trip Mattarella will take stock of the situation of refugees and internally displaced people settled in the East and North of Cameroon for whom Italy has already donated CFA 2 billion.

Talks between Mattarella and Cameroonian officials would also revolve around the chairmanship of the UN Security Council for which Rome seeks the support of Yaounde.

Bilateral cooperation between, Rome and Yaounde date back to 1960 while the Italian Embassy in the Cameroonian capital was established in 1962.

Since 1 April 2004, the two nations have been bound by an agreement for the promotion and protection of investments.

The Italian government has canceled Cameroon’s bilateral debt estimated at around CFA 89 billion francs in October 2002.

The Italian cooperation in Cameroon is particularly felt in the areas of health, education, scientific research and the development of socio-economic infrastructures.

In addition, Italy also grants scholarships to some 400 Cameroonian students each year.