AfDB Backs Cameroon with €136m Skills and Jobs Boost
Cameroon and the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group have signed loan agreements totalling €136 million to finance a new programme aimed at strengthening skills, boosting entrepreneurship and improving infrastructure in the country’s conflict-affected Far North region.
The accords, signed in Yaoundé by Cameroon’s Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Alamine Ousmane Mey, and the AfDB’s Director General for Central Africa, Léandre Bassolé, form part of the “Building Capacities and Skills for Employability and Entrepreneurship in the Extrême Nord Region” (CAP2E) initiative.
The financing package comprises €130.2 million from the Bank’s non-concessional window and €5.8 million from the African Development Fund. The five-year programme will provide technical and vocational training for 6,000 young people, create at least 5,000 jobs—40 per cent of them for women—and support over 500 small and medium-sized enterprises.
In addition, the programme will finance the construction or rehabilitation of 22 training centres and 29 social facilities, expand access to education and health services, and invest in renewable energy solutions to improve climate resilience.
Minister Mey highlighted the initiative’s potential to drive inclusive growth: “The aim is to invest in human capital, strengthen local skills and create job opportunities in promising sectors such as agriculture and renewables. This programme will help reduce inequalities, foster social stability and improve livelihoods, especially for young people and women.”
Bassolé praised the initiative as “a genuine catalyst for transformation”, stressing its role in strengthening infrastructure, promoting private sector development and advancing renewable energy. “Through this initiative, the Bank reaffirms its commitment to sustainable empowerment of young people and women through targeted, high-impact interventions,” he said.
The CAP2E programme is aligned with Cameroon’s national development plan, the AfDB’s 2023–2028 country strategy, and the government’s Special Programme for the Reconstruction and Development of the Far North.
