US$20 Million IDA Credit to Support an Environmental and Social Capacity Building Project for the Energy Sector in Cameroon

The World Bank Board of Executive Directors has approved a US$ 20 million equivalent operation to finance an Environmental and Social Capacity Building project for the Energy sector in Cameroon. The development objective of this project, as the Task Team Leader Yves Prevost said, is to “Improve the management of and the accountability for environmental and social issues related to large infrastructure investments, with an initial focus on the energy sector”.

The expected long-term benefits of the project are to: (i) reduce the negative externalities of large infrastructure projects, and (ii) develop a transparent, stable and fair framework for managing environmental and social risks that should improve the enabling environment for large infrastructure investments, and (iii) institutionalizes information flows between the populations affected by large infrastructure projects and other stakeholders, and political decision-makers.

This operation also aims to accelerate capacity building for the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) involved in the management of the environment. This assistance to CSOs is an innovation because it inaugurates a new partnership between civil society, the Government (borrower) and the World Bank in Cameroon. 

For the coming years, investments in the energy and mining sectors in Cameroon would bring huge economic and social benefits, but also entail considerable environmental and social risks that should be addressed in compliance with international best practices and standards for the management of environmental and social issues.

As Emmanuel Noubissie Ngankam, the co-Task Team Leader of this project recognized, “The scale of the issues that will arise from investments currently under consideration in the energy and mining sectors is at least an order of magnitude greater than the risks associated with the Lom Pangar Hydropower Project, or even the Chad -Cameroon Pipeline”.

The Environmental and Social Capacity Building project for the Energy sector in Cameroon includes the following three components:      

·        Component 1: Strengthening the Ministry in charge of the Environment (US$8 million) to fulfill its mandate to define, monitor and control environmental and social obligations of large infrastructure project, in compliance with the environmental law of 1996 and its implementation decrees.

·        Component 2: Establishing frameworks (US$9.5 million) to manage social externalities associated with large infrastructure projects, in compliance with international best practices.

·        Component 3: Supporting the Environment Unit in the Ministry of Energy and Water (US$2.5 million) to ensure that the environmental and social issues arising from large energy sector infrastructure projects are addressed in compliance with international best practices.// World Bank