The financial instruments for the project to acquire equipment for Cameroon’s National Fire Brigade were signed on 29 May 2023 in Yaounde by Alamine Ousmane Mey, the Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development and Thierry Marchand, the French Ambassador to Cameroon.
These financial instruments consist firstly of the financial protocol, which serves as an intergovernmental agreement, and secondly of the concessional loan agreement, amounting to € 50 million, or CFAF 32.8 billion. In his speech, the Minister for the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Alamine Ousmane Mey, stated that this funding, intended for the acquisition of equipment for the Cameroon National Fire Brigade, will enable the purchase of 237 new fire and rescue appliances of all kinds for the Cameroon National Fire Brigade. “This funding will contribute to the implementation of the key pillars of the National Development Strategy 2020 – 2030 (NDS30) in terms of well-being and human capital development”, he stressed.
The project to acquire emergency, rescue and fire-fighting equipment aims to replace and modernise the National Fire Brigade’s response capacities. This shall in turn enhance the public authorities’ civil protection response. This equipment shall help improve the management of emergency situations to reduce the vulnerability of populations in the event of certain disasters.
For the French Ambassador to Cameroon, “this is a very important step in the modernisation of the country’s civil defence capabilities, and the impact on the population will be very tangible, visible and rapid”. H.E. Thierry Marchand indicated that, in addition to delivering the equipment, France will continue working closely with the Cameroon Fire Brigade to make this instrument a highly efficient tool in Cameroon.
In fact, the project to acquire equipment for Cameroon’s National Fire Brigade has three main components: the acquisition of equipment, training and maintenance, and the construction of a unit to maintain the equipment and its facilities. On the national level, the aim is to support Cameroonians more closely in order to provide them with the help they need in emergencies, wherever and whenever they need it. On the sub-regional level, this project will, in the medium term, enable Cameroon to extend its influence and promote integration by training fire fighters from neighbouring countries. The country could also become a key player in the development of an African civil security mechanism, thanks to one of the most modern fleets of equipment in sub-Saharan Africa. The DESAUTEL Group, a company specialised in people and goods protection against fire risks, is the technical operator of this project, which is the result of a close collaboration between the Group and officials from the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Territorial Administration.
The signing ceremony for the financial instruments on 29 May 2023 was attended by the Minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motaze, the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Celestine Ketcha Courtes, the MINDEL/MINEPAT, Paul Tasong, the Commander of the National Fire Brigade, Brigadier General Mahamat Ahmed, and representatives of the Banque Publique d’Investissement (BPI France) and the DESAUTEL Group.
