AFD funding in Cameroon: where do the 622.8 billion FCFA go?

With an active portfolio exceeding 622.8 billion FCFA across 51 projects, the French Development Agency (AFD) remains Cameroon’s top bilateral lender. Yet beneath these impressive figures lies a sectoral breakdown for 2025 that raises questions: 44.2% of funds are directed toward infrastructure and urban development, while agriculture and food security receive just 1.7%—despite being a cornerstone of Yaoundé’s import-substitution strategy.

Where does the AFD’s 2025 budget stand?

By December 31, 2024, AFD’s Cameroon portfolio totaled over 594 billion FCFA, the largest share of the approximately 1.7 trillion FCFA committed across Central Africa. In 2025, this figure rose to about 622.8 billion FCFA, spread across 51 initiatives—47 led by AFD itself and 4 by Expertise France, according to the group’s activity report. The allocation among AFD’s three entities is clear: 574.4 billion FCFA for AFD, 40.5 billion for Proparco (its private-sector arm), and 7.8 billion for Expertise France.

What these numbers don’t reveal is how funds are distributed by sector. In 2025, infrastructure and urban development absorbed 44.2% of commitments, financial institutions received 35.9%, governance 6.8%, education and employment 6.4%. Meanwhile, agriculture and food security accounted for just 1.7%, water and sanitation 2.2%, and productive sectors 2.9%.

Infrastructure: a deliberate and historically grounded focus

AFD’s emphasis on infrastructure isn’t accidental—it reflects a long-standing logic and real needs. Since arriving in Cameroon in 1960, AFD has been one of the country’s primary funding partners in Africa, averaging nearly 150 billion FCFA in annual commitments since 2002. A flagship 2025 project underscores this priority: on January 21, five financing agreements totaling 175.5 million euros were signed at the Ministry of Economy. The largest was for the Flood Prevention Program in Douala and Yaoundé (PLIDY), backed by a 150-million-euro sovereign loan. This initiative targets recurrent flooding in the country’s two major cities, aiming to reduce long-term vulnerabilities for both populations and infrastructure. Alone, this project represents nearly five times the triennial budget Cameroon’s government recently allocated to reviving the wheat sector.

AFD also supports the Regional Capitals Program—funded via the Debt Reduction-Development Contract (C2D)—modernizing urban infrastructure in five secondary cities, alongside the Sporcap initiative for sports facility access.

Agriculture: a marginalized priority

Here lies a striking contrast. Cameroon’s government has positioned food sovereignty as a core pillar of its 2020–2030 National Development Strategy (SND30). The Integrated Import-Substitution Plan for Agropastoral and Fisheries (PIISAH) 2024–2026 earmarks 1.5 trillion FCFA to cut reliance on rice, wheat, palm oil, and other staples. In this context, AFD’s 1.7% allocation to agriculture and food security in 2025 raises concerns.

This minimal share contrasts sharply with AFD’s broader African strategy. Between 2018 and 2024, Proparco doubled its annual funding on the continent, mobilizing over 7.6 billion euros—roughly 1.2 billion per year—for infrastructure, agriculture, food security, financial systems, and essential services. Yet in Cameroon, these priorities appear far less prominent in the portfolio.

AFD has a track record in the sector: it supported 8,000 productive projects through the ACEFA program, reaching 260,000 farms and funding microprojects in cereals, livestock, agroprocessing, and marketing. The program’s next phase aims to consolidate support for one million Cameroonian farms by 2035—smallholder farms that produce nearly 80% of the country’s agricultural output. These achievements exist, yet their budgetary weight in 2025 remains overshadowed by large-scale urban projects.

Sovereign loans: shaping the financial landscape

How funds are allocated by financial tool further clarifies the portfolio’s structure. In 2025, sovereign loans made up 33.9% of commitments, followed by senior loans (23.2%), C2D funds (16.2%), and guarantees (12.6%). Grants—best suited for social impact projects without immediate financial returns, such as agriculture—accounted for just 6.3%. This financial architecture follows its own logic: large infrastructure projects naturally align with sovereign loans, as they generate tangible assets that can secure repayment.

Agricultural projects, however, often involve dispersed populations, uncertain yields, and long payback periods—conditions that clash with traditional debt instruments. The low share of grants in the portfolio may partly explain the relative underfunding of agriculture. Across Central Africa, 64% of AFD commitments during this period went to infrastructure and development projects, with Cameroon reflecting this regional trend.

Is this allocation a choice by Cameroon or a result of negotiations with AFD? The question warrants discussion.

SND30 and AFD: two strategies seeking alignment

The SND30 sets clear targets: reducing food imports, boosting agro-industry, and building local added value. Yet a lender whose primary tools are sovereign loans tends to favor high-visibility urban projects—roads, drainage, equipment—over agricultural value chains that require years of diffuse support before measurable results emerge.