STATEMENT REGARDING THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE MAKOR RAILWAY HUB AND THE REHABILITATION OF CERTAIN SECTIONS OF THE TRANSCAMEROON RAILWAY.

Since February 2025, the State of Cameroon has granted the Australian company Canyon Resources Ltd, concessionaire of the Minim-Martap bauxite mine in the Adamaoua region, authorisation to build the Makor railway hub. This hub should connect the bauxite mining area to the national railway network, specifically the Yaoundé-Ngaoundéré line, thereby facilitating transport to ports on the Cameroonian coast. The Cameroonian railway network, built mainly by Germany and France before independence solely for the purpose of transporting Cameroon’s wealth under colonial rule to the port of embarkation, has a metric gauge of only one metre (1 m) between the rails. This railway network has lagged considerably behind the general development of railways since it was built. In fact, around 60% of railways worldwide now use standard gauge with a track gauge of 1.435 m. Other types of track exist, notably Russian gauge (1.520 mm) used in Russia and several countries of the former USSR, and broad gauge (1.668 m) used in Spain and Portugal. These gauges reflect the evolution of railways in relation to locomotives and carriages, whose development enables them to travel faster, further and carry more passengers and goods. This is because wider gauges ensure greater stability for trains.

Therefore, signing a contract in 2025 to continue building a railway that falls far short of current standards reflects a clear desire to harm Cameroon’s economy and keep our country in a state of backwardness, with obsolete infrastructure. The privatisation of REGIFERCAM in 1999, which changed its name to CAMRAIL, raised high hopes for the development and modernisation of the national railway network. Unfortunately, in the end, the Cameroonian government realised that the investment commitments made by the company that benefited from the privatisation had never been fulfilled and, worse still, maintenance and safety issues on the network had led to serious accidents, including the Eséka disaster in 2016. Cameroon’s strategic position, with its coastal border, offers it the opportunity to serve neighbouring continental countries, mainly through a modern railway network built on the standard gauge model. A Trans-Cameroonian line crossing the country from south to north and connecting all regions while linking the main border towns is a guarantee of state revenue that can also be used to build other transport infrastructure such as motorways. The current renovation of the network by CAMRAIL, which does not bring the track gauge up to global standards, is a net loss for the Cameroonian economy, which is forced to purchase obsolete locomotives and wagons from supplier countries, whether European or Asian. Maintaining this obsolete equipment, repainted for the occasion, is difficult and costly due to the unavailability of the technologies that were relevant at the time of its manufacture. As a result, approximately 700 billion CFA francs have been spent on renewing 550 km of track (of which only 175 km have been completely rebuilt to date) and purchasing rolling stock from the depots of supplier countries. With good governance, this amount could have been used to renew at least three-quarters of the Transcamerounais with standard 1.435 m gauge rails and modern trains.

We strongly denounce the choice made, particularly for the construction of the Makor railway hub, which is about to be built by Canyon Resources Ltd, retaining an archaic railway model that will have to be dismantled in order to bring Cameroon up to global standards in this area. This is a way of jeopardising the modernisation of the country’s infrastructure through a choice that will cost Cameroonian taxpayers, who are already oppressed by other ill-considered investment choices and various irrational expenditures by the ruling power. The construction of the Makor hub and the announced renewal of two sections of the Douala-Ngoundéré line are a great opportunity to rebuild our country’s networks. The choices made in this regard should be reviewed before it is too late.

Maurice KAMTO.

Candidate in the 2025 Presidential election