Cameroon: Nachtigal Hydropower Co-01

Date Filed
09 May 2022
Status
Open
Phase
Dispute Resolution (DR)
Country
Cameroon

Case Tracker

Eligibility
Eligibility
Assessment
Assessment
Dispute Resolution
Dispute Resolution
Case transferred to Dispute Resolution. November 01, 2022-May 30, 2024
Monitoring
Status as of June 01, 2024
Compliance
CURRENT Status
Monitoring (DISPUTE RESOLUTION)
Status as of June 01, 2024

Complaint Overview

Complainant

IFI Synergy Platform on behalf of nearby communities.

Concerns

Environmental and social concerns, loss of livelihoods, insufficient and late compensation, inadequate stakeholder consultations, improper and inadequate implementation of physical resettlement, relocation and destruction of sacred sites, increase in negative social issues, inadequate grievance redress mechanism processes, and impacts on agriculture.

Cross-Cutting Issues
Access to Information Policy Air Biodiversity Children Climate Change Impacts Cultural Heritage Community Health and Safety Gender Based Violence and Harassment Land Land Resettlement Loss of Livelihoods Risk Management Social Order / Conflict Water Women

Project Information

Region
Africa
Institution
IFC/MIGA
Name & Number
Nachtigal Hydro Power Project - 37673 (IFC), Nachtigal Hydro IPP - 13075 (MIGA)
Company
Nachtigal Hydropower Company (IFC Client) and Electricité de France—EDF (MIGA Client)
Sector
Infrastructure
Department
Infrastructure
Category
A
Commitment

IFC supports the Nachtigal Hydropower Project through an equity investment of up to €60 million and an A Loan of up to €130 million.

Synopsis

Project Overview

The Nachtigal project is a greenfield 420 megawatt  run-of-river hydropower project on the Sanaga river, near Yaoundé, Cameroon. The site is located downstream from the Lom Pangar regulating dam. The project is the first independent power producer in the Sanaga river. The Republic of Cameroon granted a 35-year concession to the project company. According to IFC disclosures, the total project cost is estimated at €1.1 billion, financed with  €0.8 billion in debt and €0.3 billion in equity.

IFC supports the Nachtigal Hydropower Project through an equity investment of up to €60 million and a category n A Loan of up to €130 million. According to IFC Disclosures, IFC planned to mobilize the rest of the debt package from other Development Finance Institutions (DFI) under its role as a global coordinator.

MIGA is supporting the project through guarantees of up to 164.5 million covering Electricité de France (EDF) and STOAa French investment fund—equity and quasi-equity investment in the project. Guarantees are issued for up to 15 years against the risk of breach of contract.

Complaint

In April 2022, CAO received a complaint submitted by Green Development Advocates,  a non-governmental organization (NGO) serving as the secretariat of IFI Synergy Platform, a network of NGOs based in Cameroon on behalf of communities living near the Nachtigal Hydropower Project. The complaint highlights several environmental and social issues: insufficient stakeholder consultations, loss of income for fishermen, sand workers, and fish traders, delayed and inadequate compensation, poor resettlement implementation, destruction of sacred sites, increased social problems (theft, juvenile delinquency, gender violence, diseases), environmental impacts (reduced rain, fish, healing plants, higher temperatures, CO2 emissions exceeding forecasts), inadequate grievance mechanisms, and unaddressed impacts on crops outside the project's assessed area. Complaints have also been filed with the African Development Bank Independent Recourse Mechanism and the World Bank Accountability Mechanism.

Action

In May 2022, CAO found the complaint eligible for assessment. During the assessment, the parties agreed to participate in a dispute resolution process, and the case was transferred to CAO’s Dispute Resolution function.

CAO facilitated the dialogue process by helping the parties prepare for dialogue, agreeing on ground rules and a mediation framework, collaborating to resolve the environmental and social issues raised in the complaint, and contributing to improved outcomes on the ground. During this process, CAO closely coordinated with other independent accountability mechanisms (IAMs) of other Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) that had also received similar complaints.

On May 30, 2024, the parties signed a final agreement on all issues of the complaint. At the request of the parties, the agreement will be kept confidential.


The Assessment Report is available in English and French

Status

The case is in dispute resolution monitoring.

Status as of June 20, 2024.

 

Case Documents

  • Complaint & Assessment

    Complaint
    Letter of Complaint
    Jan 11, 2022
    English
    Letter of Complaint
    Letter of Complaint
    Jan 11, 2022
    French
    Letter of Complaint
    Assessment Report
    Assessment Report
    Nov 01, 2022
    English
    Assessment Report
    Assessment Report
    Nov 01, 2022
    French
    Assessment Report
  • Mailchimp Survey

     

    We Value Your Feedback

    Thank you for visiting CAO’s new website. Help us improve your experience by taking our short survey.

    Give Feedback No thanks