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Country Assessment: Africa

Upgrading of Low Income Settlements 

The first main urban upgrading project in Cameroon was a multi-sectoral project started in 1984 in the Nylon zone in Douala. During the early years of implementation, this upgrading project was promoted through a well-implemented information campaign as an advanced experimental regional project. It was one of the first main upgrading projects in sub-Saharan Africa.

During the project design phase and the very first years of its implementation, Cameroon was enjoying a period of considerable prosperity. The preparation of the World Bank’s (WB) First Urban Project (including the Nylon upgrading component) and the ambitious Second Urban Project were carried out in this context of economic growth. Under these favorable conditions, it was understandable that the government set high targets and initiated an extremely ambitious, costly, and complex project. 

In 1986, however, the economic indicators suddenly plunged and a serious recession set in. Growth stopped, oil prices dropped, exports of farm produce declined, urban unemployment increased very rapidly, public finance ran out, and domestic and external debt rose steeply. For the Nylon project (funded by the government, the WB and the SDC) these difficulties meant that the government could no longer afford the project commitments. The WB decided not to extend the implementation period of the project and the project was closed in 1994 at the anticipated closing date, by which time, 62 percent of the available funding had been consumed. 

The fact that the Nylon project remained unfinished had a negative impact on other urban upgrading projects and left a substantial information and experience gap1. However, the impact of the project was strongly felt in the neighborhood. Altogether the implementation period in the Nylon zone lasted more than 12 years. 

Today, projects implemented under other institutional arrangements to improve living conditions in informal settlements do not require land regulation and legalization as prerequisites for upgrading activities. They are integrated into the decentralization framework and are focused on urban development through the implementation of microprojects (infrastructure, services, facilities, and economic development). The FOURMI I project and its extension, FOURMI II, are examples of current urban upgrading efforts in Cameroon and are discussed in detail in this report.

Full report: Upgrading of Low Income Settlements Country Assessment Report: Cameroon (pdf file)

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