The Director General of the United Nation’s Universal Postal Union, Bishar Abdirahman Hussein, visited the Cameroon Postal Service data center late last week and highlighted the growth potential of the industry.

The site offers colocation facilities to businesses in Cameroon, as well as a call center and video conferencing technology.

Yaoundé, Cameroon
Yaoundé, Cameroon – Wikimedia Commons/Eavebe

Cameroon looks to the future

Hussein visited the facility after coming to Cameroon for the Ninth Ordinary Session of the Plenipotentiary Conference of the Pan-African Postal Union.

He said, according to AllAfrica: “I have travelled and seen data centers across the world but what is in Cameroon is awesome. The country is on the right path for digital revolution. This is a success and achievement in postal operations.”

The Cameroon Postal Service (CAMPOST) data center cost FCFA 31 billion (approximately $52 million) and was funded by the Chinese government through a concessional loan from Eximbank China. 

The Export-Import Bank of China acts as a financial arm of the government to implement state policies in industry, foreign trade, diplomacy and the economy. Its concessional ‘soft’ loans have been used to further ties with developing nations, notably in Africa, which China is heavily invested in.

China also provided a concessional loan to Nepal, as part of its efforts to strengthen ties with the region.

Africa has seen huge investments from both China and the rest of the world as it rapidly digitizes. A report earlier this year highlighted the huge potential for growth in the continent’s data center industry.