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       ·~rEF~N =r10NAL BANK FOR
                    =rRtJCTION AI\JD               EVELO l\1
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        Bank Press Release No. 69/23                          Subject:       $5 million loan for water
        May 7, 1969                                                          supply systems in Cameroon


                A loan equivalent to $5 million, announced by the World Bank today, will
        finance about 70% of the cost of expanding the water supply systems in the twc

        largest cities in Cameroonr Yaounde, the Federal capital, and Douala, the prin-

        cipal port and the country's main business and industrial center.                      The expanskn.

        will nearly double the supply of water in the two cities, which should be suffi-

        cient to meet the demand for approximately 10 years.

                The loan will be made to the Societe Nationale des Eaux du Cameroun (SNEC)~



•       a semi-public corporation responsible for water supply in Yaounde and Douala and

        ni.ne   smaller cities.   Th,~ loan will be for a term of 20 years including a three-

        year period of grace, with intexest at 6-1/2%.                It will be guaranteed by The

       . Federal Republic of Cameroon.

                Since The Federal Republic. of Ca11,1eroon was established i,n 1961 there has

        been a subst.;antial migration fror.o. rura/JL areas to the towns and cities.              Due to

        rapid urban growth, the COL'Ptry is faced with the need to expand water supply

        facilities in a number of towns.      Because of their economic importance and re-

        curring water shortages in Yaounde and Douala, priority has been given to ex-

        panding the systems in th~se cities.       In both cities only about a fifth of the
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        population live in houses supplied with trater; the remainder use public taps.
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        The expansion now being undertaken will enable SNEC to encourage new ionnections

        which it has been unable to do in the past, will assure adequate supplies for con--

•       tinued ind,•,~strial growth, and will lessen the incidence of water-borne diseases
        as the cities become more crowded.

                                                                                                     /more
,...

       Ba.nk P.R .. No. 69/23 - Cameroon-Water



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            Both cities take and treat water from nearby rivers.        The waters of the
       Oibamba River near Douala are sufficient to meet all foreseeable demands.         The

       flow of the Mefou River, which supplies Yaounde, is low during the dry season

       so the project includes the construction of an earth dam to create a storage

       reservoir.    Otherwise the worlcs to be undertaken on the two systems ~re similar.

       At Douala they consist of an additional water treatment plant with a capacity

       of 22,500 cubic meters a day, reservoirs, distribution mains and ancillary

       facilities.    At Yaounde they include an additional water treatment plant with

       a capacity of 16,000 cubic meter~ a day, a transmission line to Yaounde, and

       reservoirs, distribution mains and ancillary facilities.

            The project is scheduled for completion by early 1971 at a total cost

 ~     estimated at the equivalent of $7 million.        In addition to the Bank loan,

       Caisse Centrale de Coe,perati0n Economique, a French agency, is lending the

       equivalent of $1.6 million for the project.       The balance, equivalent to

       about $400,000, will be financed by SNEC from its own resources.


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