The International Arbitration Court of the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry ordered Cameroon’s government to pay an amount of FCFA 15B to MAGIL, the company responsible for the construction of the Olembe sports complex .
This is a new development in the case between the contracting parties for the construction of the Olembe complex. The matter was brought by the Canadian company, Magil, before the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which issued an urgent order to the State of Cameroon to pay the sum of CFAF 15.4 billion into an escrow account.
The story goes back to 2020, when the State of Cameroon decided to hire Magil to complete the work left by the Italian company Piccini. The contract was worth 54.8 billion CFA francs. In order to finance the contract, the Head of State will sign a decree on 16 February 2021. This authorised the Minister of the Economy, Alamine Ousmane Mey, to take out a loan of 55.1 billion CFA francs with Standard Chartered Bank (London) and BPI France Export. Magil has since received funds estimated at more than 42 billion CFA francs.
The company was responsible for the continuation of phase 1 of the project, in particular the completion of the main 60,000-seat stadium, the shopping centre and the 5-star hotel. On site, Magil was confronted by its subcontractors, who claimed debts of around 12 billion CFA francs. While Magil demanded the rest of the payment from the State of Cameroon, the Minister of Sport instead asked his partner to provide proof of the 42 billion CFA francs he claimed the Cameroon government had already paid to Magil, thus breaking the contract between the two parties.
According to the Emergency Arbitration Report, the first invoice sent by Magil to the State of Cameroon was paid almost 15 months late. 11 other invoices worth 15.4 billion CFA francs are still in dispute, and it is these that have led to the referral 15.4 billion, are still in dispute, and it is these that have led to the referral of the case to the Paris court of arbitration.
Yaoundé blamed the Canadian company for its slowness in completing the works, to which Magil replied by referring to a blockade by the Ministry of Sports.
Work on the project was halted on the eve of the 2021 African Cup of Nations, which Cameroon hosted in January-February 2022, but has still not resumed, despite injunctions from the Ministry of Sport and meetings with senior officials, including the Secretary General of the Office of the President of the Republic, and Magil officials.
The project included a 60,000-seat sports stadium, swimming pool, gymnasium and tennis courts. Only the stadium was completed, in extremis, to host matches at the 2021 African Cup of Nations (CAN) football tournament organised by Cameroon in early 2022.
