In 2023, Cameroon’s Treasury repaid CFA 712.2 billion to investors on the Bank of Central African States (BEAC) public securities market, according to BEAC’s 2023 activity report. These loans were taken by Cameroon through Treasury bills (BTA) and Treasury bonds (OTA). BTAs are short-term securities with maturities up to one year, typically used for short-term financing needs while OTAs are long-term securities with maturities ranging from two to ten years, usually issued to fund infrastructure projects.

The 2023 BEAC report shows that Cameroon repaid CFA 553.7 billion in BTAs. This amount represents 28.3% of the total BTA repayments made by all six Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) countries on the BEAC market in 2023. Cameroon’s repayments exceed those of Congo (CFA 545.7 billion) and Gabon (CFA 452.3 billion). However, Congo and Gabon have become major borrowers in the regional public securities market in recent years, surpassing Cameroon.

For OTAs, Cameroon repaid CFA 158.4 billion in 2023. This figure is 17.7% of the total CFA 802.3 billion repaid in OTAs that year. The largest OTA repayments were made by Congo (around CFA 261 billion) and Gabon (CFA 255.3 billion).

Repaying loans on time builds credibility and trust with investors and often results in better borrowing conditions. According to the Ministry of Finance, Cameroon has never missed a payment since the BEAC public securities market started in 2011. This record makes Cameroon one of the lowest-cost borrowers in the BEAC public securities market.

Sylvester Moh, Director General of the Treasury at the Ministry of Finance, often noted that Cameroon was the only country in Sub-Saharan Africa still borrowing at interest rates below 3% for short-term BTAs and below 7% for long-term OTAs before the end of 2022. Despite rising interest rates on the BEAC market, Cameroon remains the country with the lowest rates in the regional public securities market.

Source: Business in Cameroon