The Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Defence, Beti Assomo Joseph, has inspected the construction site of a new military footwear production facility at the Central Master Shoemaker Workshop of the Joint Armed Forces Technical Training Centre in Ekounou.
The visit on May 28, 2026, was part of efforts to monitor the implementation of the infrastructure development and modernisation programme for the Defence Forces initiated by the Head of State. He was accompanied by the Secretary of State to the Minister of Defence in charge of the National Gendarmerie and senior military officials.
Located between the CFTA mortuary and football pitch, the 4,850-square-metre site will host the Maître Bottier facility. Once operational, it is expected to manufacture shoes and boots for all branches of the Defence and Security Forces.
According to the project manager, the 1,730 square-metre industrial hangar has been designed to allow smooth circulation of delivery vehicles and reduce accident-prone manoeuvres. To address a 2.80-metre elevation drop below the main road, engineers plan to build a masonry retaining wall to stabilise the embankments.
The hangar will house a garment production section, a specialised metal fabrication workshop, a quality control and packaging unit, and an assembly hall. An administrative wing with three offices, an entrance hall, and a floor manager’s office is also planned, along with staff amenities including restrooms and changing rooms.
The workshop is scheduled for completion within five months. Officials said the project forms part of a broader industrialisation drive within the Defence sector that includes plans for a munitions factory and an armoured vehicle manufacturing plant.
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The five-month completion timeline stands out given the retaining wall and the 2.80-metre elevation drop, since foundation work on sloped ground often slips before the hangar goes up. A practical step would be publishing a simple milestone schedule with the wall and drainage finished before the steel frame, so slippage is visible early rather than at handover. Readers tracking similar projects could also ask how the quality control unit will test boot soles and stitching against a written standard.