(Business in Cameroon) – Suppliers of goods and services to the Cameroonian government were owed CFA171.3 billion in outstanding payments as of September 30, 2025, according to the public debt report published by the Autonomous Amortization Fund (CAA). These arrears, known as “Reste-à-payer” (RAP), refer to bills pending payment by the Treasury for more than or less than three months.
The unpaid amounts cover various categories, including the supply of goods and services, counterpart funds, government personnel expenses, subsidies, other transfers, and domestic debt under the state budget network.
Of the total unpaid bills, CFA99 billion represent RAP older than three months, while CFA72.3 billion correspond to invoices pending payment for less than three months.
The volume of unpaid bills for goods and services is comparable to that of “other transfers,” which totaled CFA176.7 billion over the same period, including more than CFA132 billion outstanding for over three months.
Overall, the CAA reported that the Treasury’s cumulative arrears stood at CFA485.4 billion at the end of September 2025, pending final consolidation by the Treasury. The accumulation of RAP reflects Cameroon’s persistent cash flow constraints.
To clear these arrears, the Treasury typically resorts to issuing public securities on the regional money market—an increasingly costly option due to high capital demand—or to private placements on international capital markets, further increasing the country’s debt burden, which the AfDB and IMF already consider at high risk of distress.
