Like 1000’s of individuals dwelling alongside the Logone River, Pierre Fissou, a instructing adviser within the Mayo Danay departmental delegation for primary training within the city of Yagoua (Cameroon), is aware of the perils of crossing from one facet to the opposite of the pure boundary.
“I usually go to the opposite facet, Bongot, for walks and to see individuals. We’re brothers with the Chadians. There’s only a pure boundary between us. But it surely has induced numerous dangers and typically tragedies,” he stated.
For years, Pierre used a canoe, with a motor or paddles, to get throughout, in fixed hazard of capsizing. A ferry was typically obtainable, however it was usually out of service. He remembers instances when individuals had no alternative however to swim, prone to drowning within the swollen waters or being attacked by hippos.
“There have been too many risks. Unhealthy issues occurred and other people misplaced their lives, together with some individuals near me,” he recalled sadly.
Pierre just lately made the crossing for the primary time utilizing the brand new bridge on an authorised go to to Chad. He describes the expertise as “unbelievable”.
“The crossing that used to take 45 minutes or an hour took only a few moments. It was as if we had been dwelling on the identical piece of land.”
For Pierre and for 1000’s of residents on each banks of the river, the brand new bridge is greater than infrastructure – it’s a dream come true, a reconnection of two teams of people that have all the time considered themselves as one household.
An formidable regional integration challenge
The Logone bridge, constructed due to monetary assist from the African Improvement Financial institution, the African Improvement Fund, the European Union, the Cameroonian authorities and the joint work of the Cameroonian and Chadian governments, is a strategic funding of over 578 million euros. The bridge, which has taken 5 years to finish, places an finish to the risks and limitations of previous technique of transport, opening a brand new period for cross-border commerce.
By connecting the city of Yagoua, in Cameroon’s Far North, with Bongor, a city in southern Chad, the bridge makes a significant contribution to regional integration, which is likely one of the precedence Excessive-5 aims of the Ten-Yr Technique 2024-2033 (https://apo-opa.co/41b1JZt) of the African Improvement Financial institution
Visiting the bridge on November 27 this 12 months, the Financial institution’s Managing Director for Central Africa, Serge N’Guessan, hailed the challenge as “a mannequin of regional cooperation and an engine of financial transformation for Central Africa.”
The bridge allows the motion of individuals and the transport of products, decreasing logistics prices and rising enterprise alternatives. Agricultural producers and merchants on either side of the river are already seeing the financial advantages: “Now we can attain new markets, with out risking our lives or our items,” stated Fatimé Mahamat, a dealer who intends to take full benefit of the brand new alternatives, provided by the bridge.
The bridge over the Logone is already making its mark as a pillar of growth and unity. For native residents like Pierre, the bridge is above all a logo of safety and means of bringing individuals collectively.
“We’re all wanting ahead to the official opening: the celebrations on that day might be one thing to see,” he says with a smile.
This new transport hyperlink between two neighbouring nations in Central Africa proves that an built-in and affluent Africa is inside attain, regardless of all of the challenges. What Pierre, Fatimé and their fellow residents have been given is greater than a bridge throughout a river – it’s a bridge to a greater future.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Improvement Financial institution Group (AfDB).