WB to prioritize Cameroon's Boko Haram-hit region

Cameroon's Far North region which has been seriously affected by attacks from Boko Haram terror group, will be at the center of future development aid programs by the World Bank, the institution's Director of Operations in Cameroon Elisabeth Huybens has said.

"In our programming, we shall place emphasis on the development of the North. We have carried out a systematic diagnosis which showed that the South experienced good economic growth and reduction of poverty as well as inequalities. But in the North, this was the contrary," Huybens said in Yaounde last Friday.

Since 2013, Cameroon's Far North region that shares a long border of 400 km with Nigeria and Chad, has been a target for attacks by the Nigerian terrorist group, forcing the Cameroonian government to deploy thousands of forces to push the group back.

One of the poorest regions of the country which is prone to diseases such as cholera, the region equally has a population that is least educated in Cameroon. It also suffers from climate related natural catastrophes like floods and droughts.

According to Huybens, "as opposed to southern Cameroon, the northern region has seen an increase in poverty and inequality," something that worries the government as well as its international partners due to the threats posed by Boko Haram.

From livestock keeping to road construction as well as agriculture and energy, the future programs by the World Bank will aim to "support growth and poverty reduction," the director of operations said.

Reduction of the risk of floods will also be taken into account alongside the fight against negative effects of climate change.

Some of the said projects which have not been clearly defined, will have a regional dimension around Lake Chad region which Cameroon shares with Nigeria, Chad and Niger, other countries that have been affected by Boko Haram.

"We are thinking of the whole of Lake Chad region," said Huybens.

One of the flagship projects proposed by the government is the Lam Pangar hydroelectric power station in the East of Cameroon.

The project which is funded by the World Bank, African Development Bank, Development Bank of Central African States and the French Development Agency, is cited among the successful projects.

The project which is expected to inject additional 30 megawatts in Cameroon's national grid, is nearing completion.

The World Bank official revealed that in the next one week, her institution will release the outcome of an agricultural project dubbed, Program for Improvement of Agricultural Competitiveness.

"We have worked well with the government this year. When there were obstacles, we sought solutions together," Huybens said.

Other World Bank-funded projects will still be executed in 2017. They include two new projects that are still at the planing phase as well as funding of the third phase of the National Program for Participatory Development and funding for a program to extend health coverage across the country.