Formerly a simple administrative department, the FondsSpécial d'Equipement et d'Intervention Intercommunale (FEICOM) was made asemi-public company by presidential decree in 2000. FEICOM thus inherited themanagement of funds from the Local Authority Mutual Fund in Cameroon throughthe centralisation and redistribution of communal revenues.
Its main missions, as reviewed in 2006, include
- Mutual assistance between Communes, in particular throughsolidarity contributions;
- Financing communal or inter-communal investment projects;
- Covering the costs of training communal staff;
More generally, FEICOM provides financial assistance tolocal authorities, particularly in the following areas:
- Social projects(water and energy infrastructure, roads and roadworks, bridges and engineeringstructures, urban development, schools, health centres).
- Communityfacilities projects (buildings housing local services, cultural facilities);
- Commercialfacilities projects (markets, bus stations, municipal inns, abattoirs, villagehalls, agricultural processing units, housing estates, communal forests,housing).
Because of its missions and fields of intervention, FEICOMis a potentially advantageous player in the implementation of partnershipsconcluded between ESSACA and its partner Local Authorities, and ESSACA istherefore very interested in it. The partnership between the Académie Africainedes Collectivités Territoriales (ALGA) and United Cities and Local Governmentsof Africa (UCLG-Africa) completes the picture of a potential efficient synergyin terms of training.
As a result of the recent decentralisation, notably thecreation of the regions, FEICCOM's remit has naturally been extended to theregions, and its prerogatives now cover the local authorities. Its brand newheadquarters, designed by architects Sylvie Traoré, Robert Dickson andSouleymane Zerbo, seems to be up to the task of meeting its new ambitions andchallenges.
ESSACA students visited this emblematic headquarters onFriday 31 March 2023. Here's a lookback at the visit.
