New rail track will expand trade between Chad and its southern neighbours, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea
Chad is taking steps to counter its landlocked isolation by building transport links to the Atlantic coast of West Africa in order to facilitate two-way trade.
In a major development in the West African region, Cameroon and Chad have reached an agreement to link northeastern Cameroon to the neighbouring capital N’Djamena by rail. The rail link between the two countries is expected to yield positive results in terms of bi-lateral trade between the two countries.
The project would also benefit northern regions of Cameroon where traders were struggling to export their merchandise to other regions
Yaounde unveiled an ambitious plan in 2012 for building railways to expand trade with Chad as well as southern neighbours such as Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, but work has not yet begun.
The new agreement between the two countries will launch a feasibility study although financing for the new infrastructure has yet to be agreed.
“If the work programme is respected, then work should begin in 2016,” said Chad’s infrastructure minister Adoum Younousmi.
The landlocked central African country of Chad is seeking ways to reduce its isolation through building infrastructure projects linking it to the Atlantic coast.
Around 80 per cent of Chad’s imports and exports already pass via Cameroon’s commercial capital of Douala but the road route is long and expensive for traders.
Cameroon’s transport minister Robert Nkili said that the project would also benefit northern regions of Cameroon where traders were struggling to export their merchandise to other regions.
Chad’s principal trading partners are the EU countries and neighboring CEMAC countries. France has been Chad’s largest trading partner, accounting for 41 percent of imports. Nigeria and Cameroon are probably Chad’s next biggest trading partners, although much of this trade goes unrecorded by customs officials. The two countries export many consumer products to Chad. Cotton exports usually go to Portugal and other EU countries, while most beef exports go to Nigeria. Gum arabic has traditionally been exported to France and other EU countries, but increasing volumes now go to the United States.
