(Business in Cameroon) – President Paul Biya has authorized Finance Minister Louis Paul Motazé to seek up to 200 billion CFA francs on the international capital market to fund “treasury operations for the 2025 fiscal year,” according to a presidential decree.
This phrasing suggests the funds are primarily intended to partially settle the government’s domestic debt, specifically outstanding invoices to state suppliers, which have been pending at the public treasury for at least three months. This category of debt is technically referred to as “Reste-à-payer” (RAP).
The likelihood of this interpretation is strengthened by recent recommendations from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). During its mission to Cameroon from April 30 to May 8, 2025, for reviews of its economic and financial program, an IMF delegation advised the government to secure an international loan to clear the public treasury’s RAP, according to sources close to the matter.
The amount the government is preparing to raise from the international capital market closely aligns with the 215.8 billion CFA francs in RAP that the Cameroonian state owed goods and service providers as of March 31, 2025. This figure was disclosed in the latest economic report from the Autonomous Sinking Fund (CAA), the agency responsible for managing Cameroon’s public debt.
Under pressure from the IMF, the government previously secured a 323.9 billion CFA francs loan in July 2024 from U.S. bank Citigroup to reduce its RAP volume. The CAA projects that a similar operation is anticipated this year, despite increasingly challenging financing conditions in the current market.
BRM
