The minutes of the negotiations were signed in Berlin, Germany, on 31 May 2023, by the Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development of the Republic of Cameroon, Alamine Ousmane Mey and the State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Head of the German delegation, Jochen Flasbarth. This was part of the German-Cameroonian intergovernmental negotiations on the programming of the cooperation cycle for the 2023-2024 period.
On the overall envelop of 60 million euros in the form of grants that is approximately CFAF 39.3 billion, €20 million is allocated to Financial Cooperation and €40 million to Technical Cooperation. This overall support is earmarked for the following four priority areas: (i) sustainable management of natural resources; (ii) rural development; (iii) governance, decentralisation, peace and social cohesion; and (iv) health, social protection and demographic policy.
In addition to these supports, the German Government has granted Cameroon resources in the form of global projects and special initiatives to the tune of €25.17 million. The two parties have also agreed to convert a €6 million debt and channel it to the health sector.
The Minister of the Economy, Mr Alamine Ousmane Mey, took the floor at the opening ceremony of the German-Cameroonian intergovernmental negotiations in Berlin, and recalled that these meetings follow on from the Consultations held in Yaounde on 6 December 2022, which laid the foundations for the sectorial and thematic orientation of German cooperation in Cameroon. For the MINEPAT, this cooperation framework, designed on a participatory basis involving all stakeholders, is consistent with the 2020-2030 National Development Strategy (NDS30). It therefore streamlines the development concerns of the population.
Over the past 60 years, technical and financial cooperation between Cameroon and Germany has grown in volume, diversity and impact. From 1959 to date, Cameroon has received a total funding of €1,311,407,331.71 from Germany that is approximately CFAF 860 billion. Currently, the active portfolio of projects and programmes implemented represents around € 382 million, or approximately CFAF 250.21 billion.
Reiterating to the highest German authorities the gratitude of the President of the Republic, His Excellency Paul BIYA, his government and Cameroonians for Germany’s consistent support, Minister Alamine Ousmane Mey set out new expectations in terms of additional funding to be allocated to priority areas of our cooperation.
For the next stages, the two countries plan to hold German-Cameroonian intergovernmental consultations and negotiations in Yaounde in 2024 and 2025 respectively.
The activities of this rich and fruitful cooperation continued on 1 June 2023 with the organisation of an Economic Forum on Development, which brought together the German and Cameroonian private sectors in the of health, rural development and digital economy domains.
