(Business in Cameroon) – Starting March 17, Cameroon’s Treasury will launch a public bond issuance program through the Bank of Central African States (BEAC). This initiative, which will run until March 31, aims to raise a total of CFA145 billion from investors, according to the Treasury’s general directorate within the Ministry of Finance.
The program will consist of six long-term bond issuances, commonly known as Treasury Bonds (OTAs), with maturities ranging from 3 to 7 years. Each issuance will aim to raise between CFA20 billion and CFA25 billion. Interest rates offered to investors will vary: 6% for 3-year bonds, 6.5% for 4-year bonds, 6.75% for 5-year bonds, and 7.5% for 7-year bonds.
This issuance comes as a sign of Cameroon’s willingness to offer competitive interest rates to attract investors, even as the market becomes more demanding. In recent years, Cameroon has been known for its cautious approach to setting interest rates. However, the government has adjusted its strategy in response to increasing market expectations for higher returns.
The shift in Cameroon’s bond rates is a result of monetary policy changes initiated by BEAC in 2021, which aimed to combat inflation. As a result, borrowing costs on public debt have risen significantly.
In the past, as pointed out by Sylvester Moh, the Director General of Cameroon’s Treasury, Cameroon was the only country in sub-Saharan Africa that could borrow at interest rates of less than 3% for short-term bonds and below 7% for long-term bonds. However, during a presentation to investors in Douala on February 13, 2025, Finance Minister Louis Paul Motazé revealed that the interest rates on short-term Treasury Bonds more than doubled between 2020 and 2024, increasing from 2.67% in 2020 to 6.33% in 2024 an over 100% rise.
The average cost of Cameroon’s Treasury Bonds with a longer maturity has also surged. In September 2023, the cost of issuing medium and long-term bonds through the BEAC’s public debt market reached 7.2%, marking the highest rate since the market’s inception in 2011.
Despite this hike in interest rates, Cameroon remains the country with the lowest borrowing costs within the Cemac monetary zone, thanks to the country’s solid reputation for honoring its debts. The government points out that since the launch of the BEAC public debt market in 2011, Cameroon has never defaulted on a payment, always repaying its debts on time, as emphasized by Minister Motazé.
