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 STOA—a 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.

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.

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.