The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has confirmed what millions of denizens in Cameroun already feel daily: the country is drowning in debt, and the people are paying the price.
According to the IMF, the colonial government debt hit 46.8% of GDP in 2024, with more than SDR 1.09 billion owed directly to the Fund. Despite this mountain of borrowing, Cameroonians see a slight improvement in their lives, only more suffering.
Fuel subsidies slashed, transport and food costs spiralling, hospitals without medicine, schools without teachers, and communities living in darkness and water shortages, all at the same time, billions are funnelled into white-elephant projects that stand unfinished or useless.
Critics say the regime has mortgaged the nation’s future, sinking money into prestige projects while corruption and mismanagement flourish. Stadiums lie empty, highways lead to nowhere, and yet citizens are forced to tighten their belts further as debt repayment swallows public funds.
With elections looming in October 2025, anger is rising. The IMF’s warning has only sharpened the question: how long can a people endure a system where the leaders enrich themselves with reckless loans, while the majority sink deeper into poverty?
Paul Biya is notorious for misappropriating money and causing financial sinking in the country. In the war on Ambazonia is among the many financial gulpers in the 43-year-old Biya regime.
By Lucas Muma
