If there is one thing to draw from the just-ended visit of the Italian President to Cameroon, it is certainly the huge gains that are coming into the educational and health delivery systems in our country. Already during the visit, there were very clear indications that this is a sector in which Italy’s presence has been most manifest simply from the destinations of the President’s visits. He was at the University of Yaounde 1, and at the Mbalmayo Education Orientation Centre while his daughter Laura Materralla visited the Chantal Biya International Research Centre – all educational or health outfits.

From the form Italian cooperation has taken on the field so far, this seemed to be a normal order of things. But come to think of it! In the number of Agreements signed on the first day of his visit after talks with President Biya, was one on how to best make use of the windfalls from the debt write off which Italy has offered.

The Agreement tends to take to the heels of the French whose C2D formula which seeks to plough back written off money into life-saving projects, especially in the rural areas. On that day, the Minister for the Economy, Planning and Regional Development and the Italian Ambassador signed the Agreement by which most of the debt money cancelled by Italy will be used in key educational and health areas. By the Agreement, Italy is engaged in a three-year aid programme during which it is committing some 9 Billion FCFA for the period running from 2016 to 2018 with a disbursement sequence of about 3 Billion FCFA a year.

For this 2016 for example, it will concentrate its aid in the Adamawa, East, Far-North and North Regions essentially in the domain of health. Some 700 Million FCFA is being set aside for the construction of 14 health centres, another 120 Million FCFA to set up two Mother/Child Wards while 736 Million FCFA will be used in building or improving the condition of 89 Sub-Divisional Health Centres. In the same vein, the Chantal Biya International Research Centre will receive a subvention of 100 Million FCFA for activities related to research and training.

In the area of education these same Regions will benefit from some 1,744,650,000 FCFA (some 1.7 Billion FCFA) mostly for the construction of classrooms. Projects for the 2016 and 2017 calendar years will be determined by a Bilateral Orientation Commission. But what is certain is that these windfalls will go to the rural areas and preferably, to those areas suffering from strife and insecurity.

The Agreement signed last Thursday also envisages that some 15 Billion FCFA will be made available for projects to run for the next two year period, that is, from 2019 to 2021. These are very practical gains in this visit and if one were to count the many opportunities offered elsewhere such as opportunities in some State Universities and the number health facilities run by Italians or with help from Italy, then one can only appreciate this visit in superlatives