(Business in Cameroon) – President Paul Biya signed a decree on December 3, 2025 authorizing the minister of the Economy, Alamine Ousmane May, to contract a CFA36.4 billion loan from the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank). The funds will serve as additional financing for the solar photovoltaic electrification project covering 200 localities in Cameroon.
This will be the government’s third loan from the same lender for the project, bringing total financing to just over CFA96 billion in three years. Following a decree issued on November 24, 2024, Afreximbank had already provided CFA24.8 billion, after an initial CFA35 billion loan signed on March 7, 2023.
Through these successive operations, the pan-African bank is strengthening its position as a strategic financial partner for Cameroon, alongside multilateral lenders such as the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the European Investment Bank, and the Islamic Development Bank.
Afreximbank, led since June 28, 2025 by Cameroonian national George Elombi, is also supporting Cameroon with a range of financial instruments. Beyond the direct loans for the solar project, the bank provided a guarantee earlier this year that enabled the Treasury to raise CFA159 billion from local banks, according to the public debt update published by the Caisse autonome d’amortissement.
On June 30, 2025, Afreximbank used its financial engineering to help Cameroon mobilize CFA200 billion on the BEAC-run regional public securities market. The arrangement relied on a swap that converted euros into CFA for an equivalent amount, allowing the bank to subscribe to Cameroon’s bond issuance at yields between 6.5% and 7.5%. This made Afreximbank the first foreign financial institution to intervene in the Cemac public securities market, traditionally dominated by local players.
The bank is also extending its reach into Cameroon’s private sector. According to reliable sources, Afreximbank financed about CFA2 billion worth of studies for a planned bitumen plant in Kribi led by All Bitumen PLC. The CFA161 billion project is expected to receive further financial backing from the institution. Since late 2024, Afreximbank has held an arranger mandate with All Bitumen PLC, enabling it to finance and mobilize partners for this strategic industrial investment.
In the energy sector, the solar electrification project is expected to reach 13,000 households and help raise rural electrification levels, currently estimated at just 20% by the Rural Electrification Agency.
BRM
