On Thursday 3 November, the European Union, the authorities of Cameroon and Nigeria and the African Development Bank inaugurated the new bridge over the Cross River at the Mfum-Ekok border crossing between Cameroon and Nigeria, the European Commission announced the same day.
This critical infrastructure also includes a new joint border post at Mfum (Nigeria) and is part of the Bamenda-Enugu corridor between the two countries.
This infrastructure is the last missing section in a 400 km strategic transport corridor on the African continent linking the regions of Western and Central Africa. It was co-financed by the EU with €25 million in grants, which leveraged €259 million from the African Development Bank.
The new bridge and border crossing will further develop the agro-pastoral potential of the region and increase the income of the population, the European Commission underlines. They will also improve connectivity between Nigeria and Cameroon and enhance integration, trade and movement of goods and people between the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS).
“This is at the centre of the EU’s ‘Global Gateway’ strategy, to build trusted and sustainable connections for the benefit of people”, commented European Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen in a statement.
As a reminder, at the sixth EU-Africa summit in February, which laid the foundations for a strengthened strategic partnership (see EUROPE 12894/1), €150 billion was pledged by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, under the Europe-Africa regional programme ‘Global Gateway’, the EU’s major strategic investment programme to counterbalance the EU’s competitors in Africa, notably China and Russia (see EUROPE 12997/21, 12888/1). (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)