Road Infrastructure: Translating Talk To Actions

One of the persistent and disturbing challenges confronting Cameroon is the poor state of its road infrastructure. The situation seems to be worsening as years go by despite tremendous efforts being made by the government and partners to improve the road network. At the moment, several road projects are on course or have recently been completed but the impact is yet to be felt by the population. Portions of dilapidated roads and other infrastructure are common place along national, regional and communal roads with such bad spots making rounds on social media space. As of December 31, 2024, Cameroon’s road network spanned 121,873km, out of which, only a paltry 10,225km are asphalted. The roads in Cameroon are categorized into four distinct categories notably Motorways, National, Regional and Municipal roads. So far, 62 per cent of National roads are paved that is 5,824.42km out of 9,387.26km. Even at that, the state of what passes as paved roads, is in most cases, in a very dilapidated situation. 
Government is quite aware of this stubborn reality and is making frantic efforts to improve though the efforts seem to be more on paper than on the field. In the development blueprint dubbed National Development Strategy 2020-2030 adopted by the government, the objective therein targets the tarring of 6,000km and rehabilitate 3,000km of roads by 2030.  Mid-way into this lofty development agenda, the realization in the field is still below average, thereby giving the impression that more office talk is done than concrete field achievements. President Paul Biya in his state-of-the nation address on December 31, 2024, was unequivocal when he acknowledged the pitfalls in road infrastructural development. “The state of our road network does not reflect the efforts and sacrifices made for its rehabilitation and expansion,” he indicated. He also acknowledged that challenges abound especially the availability of funding. He however revealed that he had instructed the reorganisation of the Road Fund to enhance its capacity to mobilise the necessary funds for the construction, rehabilitation and maintenance of roads. Expectations are therefore rife that the Head of State’s directives to reorganize the fund will be implemented for anticipated results to be palpable as soon as possible. 
Indicators for such palpable results expected were visible on July 1, 2025 when the National Road Board met in its 28th session chaired by the Prime Minister Head of Government, Joseph Dion Ngute at the Star Building. During the conclave, government and partners examined innovative solutions needed to improve on the road infrastructure as well as advocated for strong measures to protect the national road heritage. But the most challenging issue hindering the road construction and maintenance drive in the country is insufficient funds. The Road Fund estimates maintenance cost of national roads at FCFA 1.1 trillion in 2025. The assessment was carried out in July 2024 and the plan covers 39,000km of roads including 13,500m of bridges and other infrastructure according to data compiled by the Road Fund.  Sourcing for the requisite funds to tackle 230 projects measuring 9,000km and estimated at FCFA 313.6 billion to be managed at the central level, 120 projects of 6,000km worth FCFA 322.7 billion, and 2,547 municipal projects of 23,000km with a financial need pegged at FCFA 460 billion is a herculean task. 
It is no secret that the government coffers are strained following international and national economic meltdown, thus securing such an amount for road projects would not be as easy as sending a letter through the post office. This year, resources mobilized from Public Investment Budget and the Road Fund amount to about FCFA 100 billion with FCFA 52 billion from Public Investment Budget (PIB) and FCFA 47.78 billion from the Road Fund as admitted by the Fund’s administrator Esaie Moussa Aubin. The resources cover less than 10 per cent of the identified needs as the 2025 budget allocates only FCFA 60 billion for the funds operations. 
Despite the scarce resources, the Fund has selected 233 road maintenance projects, 11 regional and 177 communal roads cumulating to 5,460km of roads and 1,499m of infrastructure. This represents only 4.5 per cent of the total length of Cameroon’s national road network. With this reality, it is therefore incu...