China is investing in ports from Malaysia to Mozambique as part of its vision for a Maritime Silk Road (MSR) linking eastern China with Europe via the Indian Ocean, Red Sea, and Mediterranean Sea. With the ambitious plan drawing more attention to the pros and cons of Chinese investment in other countries’ maritime infrastructures, it’s a good time to look at how one such project played out: The Kribi Port project in Cameroon.
Cameroon’s largest port is in Douala, which accounts for 95 percent of Cameroon’s imports and exports. But the Douala Port is not a deepwater port and so Cameroon set out to build a one at Kribi – with China’s help. China Harbor Engineering Company Ltd. broke ground on Kribi Port in June 11, 2011. The first phase of the project is already finished and will be handed over to the Cameroonian government later this year.
The contract value for the first phase was set at $568 million, of which 85 percent was provided as a preferential loan from China’s Export-Import Bank and 15 percent was paid by the Cameroonian government. However, final construction costs were estimated to be $1 billion. As with so many of these investment projects, China’s involvement provided a way for a cash-strapped local government to boost infrastructure capabilities on the cheap.
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