This modern facility, donated by COTCO, will provide nearly 700 pupils with better school catering facilities.
In Ngoumou, in the Mefou and Akono division, education has just gained a new ally. On 28 May 2026, the Cameroon Oil Transportation Company (COTCO) officially handed over a state-of-the-art canteen to the local council, thereby reinforcing its commitment to children’s well-being and academic success through good nutrition.
Built at a cost of almost 40 million CFA francs, the 95.79 m² facility comprises a dining hall, a kitchen, a storage room, and three modern toilets. It will directly benefit almost 700 pupils and over 70 teachers from four primary schools in the area around the Teacher Training School for General Education Ngoumou.
During the ceremony, which was presided over by Roland Ewane Ekeh, the subdivisional officer of Ngoumou, local authorities praised the project as a promising step for the future. “We are grateful to COTCO for this gem. We really needed this kind of infrastructure”, he said, urging the local community to preserve it.
“A hungry stomach has no ears. It was to provide a concrete response to the need for a balanced and sufficient diet for the schoolchildren in our municipality that I approached COTCO to build this school canteen”, explained the mayor of Ngoumou, Jean-Baptiste Amvouna Atemengue. This canteen is a sustainable investment in local human capital. “Children’s health depends on their diet, which has a significant impact on their academic performance”, he emphasised, assuring that the Municipal Council would provide for its upkeep.
As part of its corporate social responsibility initiatives, this school canteen is the first of its kind to be built by COTCO. It is an innovative project in the field of education. Serge Mballa, Human Resources Manager and representative of COTCO’s General Manager, Jean-Paul Simo Njonou, remarked: “This canteen symbolises solidarity and partnership, and our shared vision of a more welcoming school environment that is conducive to children’s learning”.
“We are delighted to receive this school canteen. It provides a concrete solution to the difficulties we previously encountered in feeding the children”, said Henriette Esse, headteacher of the Group 1 Public Training School.
This satisfaction reflects the tangible impact of COTCO’s actions to improve the living conditions of communities living along the Chad-Cameroon pipeline in the long term.
