Cameroons unpaid bills threaten arbitration

FYI...



This situation, we learn, is on the verge of seizing up arbitration

The Mbalam-Nabeba railway project, decisive for mining in Cameroon, is currently going through a period of uncertainty. According to a close source who spoke to Vitrine du Cameroun , the Cameroonian State has not paid the procedural costs, nor the fees of the lawyers and the financial expert who assisted it in the dispute with the Australian company Sundance Resources.

The Mbalam-Nabeba railway is a strategic project for Cameroon. It aims to connect the iron mines of Mbalam-Nabeba to the Atlantic coast, thus facilitating the export of mineral resources.

In December 2022, the Australian mining junior Sundance Resources filed its statement of claim filed with the International Court of Arbitration of the Paris International Chamber of Commerce, in which it requested damages of 5.5 billion dollars, or 3 401.6 billion FCFA, as part of the dispute between it and the State of Cameroon over the iron mining project in the east of the country.

The amount demanded by the company from the State of Cameroon, more than half of the entire country's budget in 2023, was considered astronomical. **riel Dodo Ndocké also believed that the payment of this “debt” would put an end to the arbitration procedure. But the President of the Republic, Paul Biya , rejected the request.

Information to our editorial staff this morning indicates that beyond the payment of the amount demanded as damages by the Australian, the Cameroonian State has not paid the procedural costs, nor the fees of the lawyers and the financial expert who assisted him in this dispute. A situation which not only risks compromising the arbitration, but also the progress of this vital project.

According to some experts approached , "this situation could not only delay the project, but also damage Cameroon's reputation as a reliable partner in projects of international scope . "

To understand the genesis of this dispute, it is necessary to recall that after several extensions of its exploration license for the project, the Australian mining junior did not manage to secure a technical and financial partner for the establishment of the related infrastructures. the Mbalam mining project (construction of a railway of more than 500 km between Mbalam and Kribi, the mine and an ore terminal at the deep water port of Kribi). Successive attempts with the Chinese companies China Gezhouba, in 2015; Tidfore Heavy Equipment Group Ltd, in 2018, and finally AustSino, from 2018, were all unsuccessful.

Cameroon therefore decided to turn to other partners to develop the mining project, including AutSino Resources Group Ltd and Bestway Finance. What Sundance contests in court, believing it to have been abused by the State of Cameroon and the Chinese AutSino which signed a contract (railway component) directly with the State, on June 25, 2021 in Yaoundé .

Source:
https://vitrineducameroun-com.translate.goog/2024/07/25/fer-de-mbalam-nabeba-letat-camerounais-na-pas-paye-les-honoraires-des-avocats-et-de-lexpert-financier-dans-le-differend-qui-loppose-a-laustralien-sundance-resources/?_x_tr_sl=fr&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc