* Barely five months after Cameroon FCFA 930 billion in August 2025!
* The two loans for the same reasons – for the development & settlement of debts
Paul Biya has today, January 21, 2026, signed Decree No. 2026/013 ordering the Minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motaze, to proceed, yet, to borrow another huge sum of FCFA 1,650 billion.
The decree clearly states that this money is to be used to finance “development projects and clear outstanding payments”.
In August 2025, just about a month and a few weeks before the last October 12 Presidential election, the Head of State, in yet another decree, authorised the same Finance Minister to secure, at the time, an FCFA 930 billion loan from internal and external lenders.
The reason for the August 2025 loan, as vaguely explained to Cameroonians, was still to finance development projects and clear certain payments or state debts.
When the government went borrowing in August, 2025, most Cameroonians thought the government was about to finance the long-promised reconstruction of the Limbe Deep Seaport.
But, alas! This didn’t happen. Neither did the government build any new roads anywhere. The government was expected to begin work on the rehabilitation of the Bekoko to Limbe and onto Idenau Road project, estimated to cost some FCFA 121 billion. But this too didn’t happen.
The only project that took place was the October 12 presidential election, where a good dose of money was apparently frittered away.
Thus, given that Cameroon will, in 2026, be organising twin elections – parliamentary and municipal – there are fears that this huge amount of money might not, after all, be destined to finance development projects.
These fears stem from the fact that President Biya’s Decree, as with the August 2025 document, doesn’t specifically name any project(s) to be financed with FCFA 1.650 trillion (or the quota that will be used).
It’s clear that President Biya, in his December 31 address to the nation, spoke of plans to rehabilitate numerous rundown roads and even build new ones in 2026.
He also spoke of several other projects planned to improve the lives of Cameroonians.
But there have been so many unfulfilled promises in the past that have finally come to nought.
Cameroonians strongly wish that the borrowed funds be invested in income-generating projects that can drive economic growth, such as the Limbe Deep Seaport project.
Otherwise, if the money is misused, then it will only go to swell Cameroon’s already huge debt burden, which is already above FCFA 15,000 billion.
Cameroon’s budget for 2026 stands at some FCFA 8.8 trillion. To realise this huge budget, Cameroon plans to borrow some FCFA 3.102 trillion.
Given the country’s heavy debt burden of about FCFA 15 trillion, there is already pressure on the government to repay.
Thus, the government needs to raise a significant amount of debt in 2026 to remain creditworthy.
But many criticise this policy of borrowing to repay debts, especially for a country whose debt level is already significantly sky-high! And the country relies more on importation than on exportation.
By Lucas Muma
