CAMEROON’S INFRASTRUCTURE: A CONTINENTAL PERSPECTIVE Further competition would boost broadband development. As of 2009, there were only about 8,000 fixed broadband subscriptions in the Cameroon. Mobile operators have been slow to launch highspeed mobile wireless networks and instead have deployed fixed wireless solutions using WiMAX technology. Two additional undersea cables now underway should bolster competition and lower wholesale prices, as they will provide direct

**Table 13. Africa’s ICT prices, 2008**

|US$|Price per<br>during pea|minute<br>k time|Monthly<br>Internet<br>|
|---|---|---|---|
||Region|US|ADSL<sup>[a]</sup>|
|Without submarine cable|0.97|0.96|266|
|With submarine cable|1.07|0.63|89|
|--_Monopoly on international gateway_|1.65|1.11|109|
|--_Competitive international gateway_|0.45|0.28|65|
|Source: Foster and Briceño-Garmendia<br>a. 256 kbps connection.|2009.|||

international Internet connectivity for each of the mobile operators. The West Africa Cable System (WACS), of which MTN is a signatory, plans a launch in 2011.<sup>14</sup> The Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) cable, with Orange Cameroon as a shareholder, is scheduled for launch in 2012.<sup>15</sup> The national fiber-optic backbone, much of it built along the Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline, is being expanded with Chinese assistance.<sup>16</sup>

# Financing Cameroon’s infrastructure

To meet its most pressing infrastructure needs and catch up with developing countries in other parts of the world, Cameroon must expand its infrastructure assets in key areas (table 14). The targets outlined below are purely illustrative, but they represent a level of aspiration that is not unreasonable. Developed in a standardized way across African countries, they allow for cross-country comparisons of the affordability of meeting the targets, which can be modified or delayed as needed to achieve financial balance.

**Table 14. Illustrative investment targets for infrastructure in Cameroon**

||**Economic target**|**Social target**|
|---|---|---|
|Transport|Achieve regional (national) connectivity with good-<br>quality 2-lane (or 1-lane) paved roads.|Provide rural road access to 20 percent of the highest-value<br>agricultural land, and urban road access within 500 meters|
|Irrigation|Develop an additional 170,463 hectares of<br>economically viable small-scale irrigation|n.a.|
|WSS|n.a.|Achieve Millennium Development Goals and clear the<br>rehabilitation backlog in the sector|
|Power|Develop 2,471 MW of new generation capacity and<br>831 MW of interconnectors (no-trade scenario).|Raise electrification to 71 percent (84 percent in urban<br>areas and 49 percent in rural areas)|
|ICT|Install fiber-optic links to neighboring capitals and<br>submarine cable|Provide universal access to GSM signal and public<br>broadband facilities|

_Source_ : Mayer and others 2008; Rosnes and Vennemo 2009; Carruthers and others 2009; You and others 2009.

> 14 http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL896481320090408

> 15 http://www.orange.com/en_EN/press/press_releases/cp100608en3.jsp

16 http://www.balancingact-africa.com/news/en/issue-no-486/internet/cameroon-has-started-rolling-out-nationalfibre-backbone-with-chinese39