Cameroon’s public debt stock reached 15,607 billion FCFA at the end of June 2026, equivalent to 44.2% of GDP, as the government kept raising new financing to build infrastructure, cover budget needs and service existing obligations — a sequence of decisions that explains both the headline figure and the concern it has triggered.
At first glance, the number looks like a single event. In reality, it is the cumulative result of authorised borrowing ceilings, signed loan agreements and treasury operations spread across the year. A year earlier, the same debt stock stood at 14,409 billion FCFA, according to the Autonomous Amortisation Fund (CAA). The gap between the two figures is not one loan, but many.
In January, President Paul Biya authorised the Ministry of Finance to raise domestic and external borrowing of up to 1,650 billion FCFA. That authorisation covered 400 billion FCFA in Treasury bills and bonds, 250 billion FCFA in direct loans from private national institutions, and 1,000 billion FCFA to be mobilised on international financial markets. The stated aims were to fund development projects and clear payment arrears.
The 1,650 billion FCFA is a ceiling, not money already disbursed. By the end of June, 800.7 billion FCFA had actually been raised on the domestic financial market, the CAA data shows. That distinction — between what is authorised and what is effectively drawn — sits at the heart of how the debt trajectory should be read.
New project loans signed in the first half of 2026
Beyond market operations, fresh project financing was contracted in the first six months of the year. New debt commitments reached roughly 514 billion FCFA over that period. One of the largest was a 130.4 billion FCFA loan for the Ebolowa-Akom II-Kribi road, signed in May with Standard Chartered Bank and backed by a guarantee from UK Export Finance. A separate commercial loan of 7.8 billion FCFA had already been arranged for the same project.
Borrowing continued into the second half. On 2 October, the government approved a World Bank loan of €347.5 million — around 228 billion FCFA — to finance the Douala-Bangui economic corridor. Another financing agreement of about €212.35 million, close to 139 billion FCFA, was approved for the rehabilitation of the Douala-Bafoussam road. Together, those two approvals added roughly 367 billion FCFA in authorised project financing.
What the 2026 budget actually requires
These individual projects sit within a wider financing plan. Cameroon’s 2026 budget provides for 3,104 billion FCFA in borrowing and other financing needs, out of a total budget of 8,816 billion FCFA. Those needs cover the fiscal deficit, debt repayment and other obligations.
Servicing the debt is already a substantial drain. Around 1,059 billion FCFA went to debt service in the first half of 2026, based on figures from the IMF and the CAA. That outflow helps explain why the debt question has moved beyond a simple tally of what the country owes.
Why the IMF keeps flagging high risk
The pressure has drawn renewed attention from the International Monetary Fund. After a mission in September, the IMF said on 1 October that its debt sustainability analysis continued to show a high overall risk of debt distress, even as it described the debt as sustainable over the medium term.
The Fund called for tighter fiscal policy, stronger domestic revenue mobilisation and greater reliance on concessional financing. It also warned that Cameroon faces significant liquidity strains, driven by large debt repayments and growing dependence on commercial borrowing. In its 2026 Article IV assessment, the IMF stressed that the government needed to borrow prudently, given limited liquidity and the saturation of the regional domestic debt market.
For Cameroon, the central question is no longer simply how much the government is allowed to borrow. It is how much has actually been raised and disbursed, what the money is financing, what it costs, and what total amount the country will eventually have to repay. With public debt already above 15,600 billion FCFA, that distinction matters more with every new loan signed.