The government of Cameroon is expected to sign a partnership with Tunisia through the Borj Cedria Ecopark in the coming days. The Minister of Water Resources, Basile Atangana Kouna and the Tunisian Ambassador to Cameroon, Jalel Snoussi are in negotiations. The latter paid a courtesy call to the Minister on Friday February 17, 2017 with Kamel Touati, Adviser for Foreign African Affairs at the Borj Cedria Technopole, to discuss the putting in place of such a structure in Cameroon to train engineers and researchers in renewable and sustainable energy.
Ambassador Jalel Snoussi said the Science Park was his government’s commitment to transfer technology to Cameroon. The training and research centre will help jumpstart Cameroon’s energy sector, Kamel Touati said, stressing that the country will not need foreign experts to come and develop the sector. He said the richest resource of Cameroon was its people and most especially engineers. “If engineers lack appropriate training, they will not execute development projects.
Cameroon through the centre will develop its human resources and stop government from bringing foreign companies to develop sustainable and renewable energy resources,” he said. The Minister of Water Resources and Energy, Basile Atangana Kouna is hopeful, saying the weeks ahead will determine the fruition of the collaboration. He said other projects like developing 100 MW solar panels could be done in partnership with Tunisians. The Minister said Cameroon has focused on hydroelectricity and is now diversifying energy sources to meet growing demand. The Tunisian investor representing the Ministries of Industry, Energy and Education said more opportunities were in the offing.
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Credit: All Africa
