YAOUNDE, July 2 (Xinhua) -- Cameroon and the African Development Bank (AfDB) on Tuesday signed an agreement to establish the Central Africa headquarters of the bank in Cameroon's capital Yaounde.
Cameroon's Minister of External Relations Lejeune Mbella Mbella and AfDB Vice-President for Regional Development, Regional Integration and Service Delivery Khaled Sherif signed the agreement.
"The reason we picked Cameroon is because obviously Cameroon is a vast and growing economy in Central Africa," Sherif told reporters after signing the agreement.
"It is the economy we are foreseeing the fastest rate of growth and development... It is growing about 4 percent per annum," said Sherif.
"What Cameroon has done in industrialization is a marvel for Central Africa and what Cameroon has done in electrification is certainly a marvel for the region," he added.
The AfDB's new regional office aims to improve the efficiency of the bank's operations and deepen the dialogue between the bank and all Central African countries, according to Sherif.
According to the AfDB, the bank's portfolio in the sub-region has more than 44 active regional projects, amounting to nearly 1.1 billion U.S. dollars.
