(Business in Cameroon) – Cameroon’s Government is proposing to increase its fiscal spending on communal road maintenance to 16.1 billion francs for the 2026 financial year, representing a 38.5 percent rise from the 11.6 billion francs allocated in 2025. The figure was announced during a budget preparation meeting chaired by the Minister of Public Works, Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi, on 3 November 2025 in Yaounde. The session focused on reviewing allocations under the Public Investment Budget (BIP) and aligning the priorities of local and regional authorities with national infrastructure goals.
According to data presented at the meeting, the new funding package reflects an increase of 4.5 billion francs, allowing each of the 180 eligible communes under the BIP to receive a minimum of 85 million francs, up from 65 million francs in the previous year. The Ministry of Public Works, MINTP, noted that communal roads represent 81 percent of Cameroon’s national road network. Despite their extensive coverage, only 24.2 percent of these roads are currently classified as being in good or fair condition. The ministry said that this state of disrepair significantly influences the overall quality and performance of the national transport system.
Between 2018 and 2025, the MINTP transferred a total of 207.9 billion francs to communes across Cameroon’s 10 regions for the construction, rehabilitation, and maintenance of local road infrastructure. These transfers were part of a broader policy aimed at decentralising public investment and enabling local councils to manage community-level infrastructure. The 2026 increase is expected to expand the reach of ongoing maintenance programmes and to address sections of the network that have deteriorated due to weather and usage.
While allocations to communes have increased, funds earmarked for regional authorities will decrease in 2026. The overall regional allocation will stand at 3 billion francs, down from 4 billion francs in 2025, with each region receiving 300 million francs. This adjustment is part of the redistribution of resources to target local-level road maintenance more directly.
The meeting also outlined key national and strategic road projects to be implemented in 2026 under the Ministry of Public Works. These include the second phase of the Yaounde–Douala Motorway, the Lolabe–Campo Expressway linking the Kribi port area to the southern border, the Ring Road in the North-West Region, and the Ngaoundere–Garoua and Mora–Dabanga–Kousseri routes in the northern corridor. Other projects mentioned were the Ebolowa–Akom II–Kribi road, the Maroua–Moutourwa route, the Batouri–Yokadouma–Moloundou axis, the Douala–Bandjoun road, and the Olounou–Oveng–Frontière Gabon (Phase 2) segments.
Mercy Fosoh
