(Business in Cameroon) – The board of directors of Cameroon’s Telecommunications Regulatory Agency (ART), meeting on December 9 and 10, approved its 2026 action plan, which provides for the payment of CFA46 billion in dividends to the public treasury and other beneficiary institutions.
The amount is about CFA3 billion higher than the projection for 2025. For the current year, ART had budgeted CFA43 billion in payments to the treasury and other beneficiaries, including the Special Telecommunications Fund.
The planned dividend payout for 2026 is part of an annual budget set at CFA77.5 billion, up 5.4% from 2025, when the budget stood at CFA73 billion. According to Justine Diffo, chair of ART’s board, the 2026 budget includes major investments in monitoring equipment, regulatory management tools linked to 5G and satellite internet, expansion of the equipment certification laboratory, staff capacity building, and additional material and logistical resources.
At the same time, the board expressed concern over what it described as “significant debt” owed to ART by concession operators Camtel and Viettel Cameroon, as well as by network operators and diplomatic missions.
In April, ART announced the launch of a recovery process targeting around CFA30 billion in outstanding receivables, largely made up of unpaid regulatory fees and unsettled penalties.
Ludovic Amara
