AfDB fund provides nearly $18m for efforts to stabilise Lake Chad Basin

Bamidele Famoofo

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group approved on 5 November a package of $17.97 million to Cameroon and Chad to bolster efforts to stabilise the Lake Chad Basin, a region long plagued by insecurity as well as deeply affected by climate change.

The funding, comprising a grant of $11.11 million to Chad and a loan of $6.86 million to Cameroon will come from the African Development Fund, the concessional window of the African Development Bank Group and from the Transition Support Facility, a mechanism for countries in transition.

Bank Group financing will be complemented by additional support of almost $20 million mobilised by UNDP, the project implementer, from Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom, as well as the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund.

The project has three components: (a) improving security and access to justice, and restoring resilient essential services; (b) revitalising local economies and creating sustainable, climate-sensitive jobs for women and young people; (c) strengthening social cohesion and regional cooperation. It will target the provinces of Lac and Hadjer Lamis in Chad and the northern regions of Cameroon, which have experienced deterioration of their security situation.

Following the approval, Serge N’Guessan, the Bank Group’s Director General for Central Africa, said: “The financing that has been approved represents substantial support from the African Development Bank Group to the governments of Chad and Cameroon to address the socio-economic effects of the crisis in the Lake Chad Basin. The project aims to prevent the spread of violent extremism in the region by preserving human capital and empowering communities.”

N’Guessan stressed that “The project is particularly appropriate and innovative because it promotes the nexus between humanitarian and development goals along with the establishment of peace.”

The project will provide security, justice, education and health infrastructure in the target region. It will also help with construction of commercial infrastructure, as well as providing vocational training for young people, women and unskilled displaced people. Skills training will focus on carpentry, sewing, welding, fishing, agriculture, animal husbandry and green jobs.

Around 125,200 people (49,200 in Cameroon, 76,000 in Chad) are expected to benefit directly from the project. A further 483,000 people (316,000 in Cameroon, 167,000 in Chad) will derive indirect benefits.

The security situation in Chad’s Lac and Hadjer Lamis provinces and the north of Cameroon has deteriorated, mainly due to the presence of Boko Haram and other non-government armed groups. The situation has resulted in the internal displacement of more than 427,000 people in northern Cameroon and over 381,000 people in the area around Lake Chad on the Chadian side, including a large share of women and children. Despite these challenges, the region has great economic importance due to its location on cross-border corridors, offering good prospects for local communities once security has been re-established.