By Amina Wintoh Abu
A round table of donors to mobilise the financing of 300 mini drinking water supply systems in rural areas in Cameroon was held on March 4th 2025 at Hilton hotel, Yaounde.
The event which was organized by the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Regional Development (MINEPAT) in collaboration with the Ministry of Water Resources and Energy (MINEE) was witnessed by some partners like the African Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, Exim bank US, JICA, KOICA.
The objective of the project is to improve the efficiency of investments in drinking water and sanitation sub sector through the activities of studies, capacity building, collection and storage of key information for the management of water and sanitation in Cameroon. This gauge will also
mobilize the funds needed to finance the construction works of the mini grids.
The counter-plan is estimated at the sum of about 275 billion francs CFA where by the project covers the entire 10 region of Cameroon. The main beneficiaries of this project are the populations in the rural areas where these studies could reach more than 900 thousand inhabitants.
This project’s expected results is to help improve the quality of life of beneficiaries particularly women and children, train local community members in the management, upkeep and maintenance of water infrastructure, significant reduction in water-borne diseases in intervention areas, and 300 drinking water supply mini-networks built and operational, meeting the needs of targeted rural communities.
The MINEPAT boss, Alamine Ousmane Mey, reiterated on the importance of this project as it is one of the most important projects which the Head of State holds dear, noting that in 2022, President Paul Biya mentioned that, access to potable water is one of his major preoccupations.
The Minister of Water Resources and Energy, Gaston Eloundou Essomba, told the press: “ Our main commitment is to improve the access of potable water to people living in rural areas, as we are facing lack of potable water in this part of the country. That is the reason why, we are here with all the partners to make statements based on the studies carried out on these projects and the studies have shown that we will be able to mobilize enough funds to carry out these
projects. Thanks to the World Bank as they are able to fund the construction of about 100 of these potable water stations.”
In a nutshell, the projected impact of this gauge is so that, by 2050, the projected horizon for the dimensioned works should have more than 41.000 cubic metres of drinking water per day will be supplied to more than one million inhabitants through these facilities, the effects of climate change in water resources will be mitigated and lastly, the economic situation of the population will be improved through income generating activities.
