Cameroon’s state debt-recovery agency is expanding its reach beyond national borders. The Société de recouvrement des créances (SRC), recently mandated to administer frozen, seized and tax-related assets as part of broader anti-money laundering efforts, is turning to Interpol to strengthen the recovery of assets held overseas.
For SRC Director General Marie Rose Messi, cross-border capacity is now essential. “Our ability to recover assets also depends on our international reach. That is why we are turning to Interpol to help track economic criminals wherever they may be,” she said.
At the centre of this approach is the “Silver Notice,” a new Interpol tool in the fight against financial crime. Messi said the instrument could expand states’ ability to identify assets linked to illicit activities. “Interpol has the tools, including its notices, that make it possible to locate and identify assets linked to suspects anywhere in the world. A new notice is being rolled out that is expected to be more effective than existing ones: the Silver Notice,” she said.
The Silver Notice, a new tool in asset tracing
Unveiled by Interpol in 2025, the Silver Notice was introduced as part of a pilot phase involving 52 countries. It enables member states to issue global alerts and request information on assets linked to criminal activity, including fraud, corruption, drug trafficking, environmental crime and other serious offences.
The tool is designed to help identify laundered or concealed assets, including real estate, vehicles, bank accounts and company shareholdings. Information obtained can support cross-border cooperation procedures such as seizure, confiscation or asset recovery, in line with national legislation.
For the SRC, the stakes are significant. The agency aims to improve its recovery rate and increase its contribution to public revenues. A recent audit by the Chambre des Comptes of the Supreme Court found that between 2018 and 2022, the SRC recovered less than 30% of its receivables portfolio, valued at 597 billion CFA francs.
Non-tax recovery as a fiscal lever
This performance is driving efforts to strengthen the collection of non-tax revenues. “The recovery of criminal assets is a major issue for the state, as it can improve non-tax revenue mobilisation. At present, public revenues remain heavily reliant on taxation. When fiscal pressures arise, taxes tend to increase,” Messi said. “Strengthening the recovery of non-tax receivables could help ease that pressure.”
Beyond its cooperation with Interpol, the SRC is also working to strengthen operational capacity across relevant institutions. It recently organised a five-day training session in Yaoundé with the national police on combating corruption, money laundering and asset recovery. The session, led by Interpol experts, brought together staff from tax administrations and agencies involved in anti-corruption and financial crime enforcement.
Through these efforts, the SRC is seeking to operationalise its international strategy. Whether this approach will significantly improve recovery performance in the medium term remains uncertain, as asset recovery abroad also depends on judicial cooperation, the effectiveness of domestic procedures and the ability to act on the information obtained.
Ludovic Amara
