Cameroon faces risk of 292 billion fcfa afdb funding cancellation
A recent joint portfolio review, held in Yaoundé on July 14, 2026, between the Cameroonian government and the African Development Bank (AfDB), has brought to light a substantial financial threat to Cameroon. Seven operations, previously approved by the pan-African institution’s authorities and totaling 373.419 million units of account – approximately 292 billion FCFA – are now at risk of cancellation. The primary reason for this vulnerability is not a lack of available resources, but rather the protracted internal procedures that impede project implementation.
It is crucial to understand that these are not funds already disbursed that Yaoundé would need to repay. Instead, these allocations represent loans and grants that the AfDB had validated, but for which the necessary agreements were not signed within the stipulated deadlines, or where no payments were initiated despite the legal formalization. Six of these cases fall into the former category, with a seventh belonging to the latter. The total value of financing awaiting agreement signatures alone amounts to 339.419 million UC, nearly 265 billion FCFA.
The ngoura-yokadouma road: a 207 billion fcfa bottleneck
One particular project overshadows all others in terms of financial impact. The Program for Opening Up and Connectivity of Cross-Border Economic Basins, designated to finance the development of the Ngoura-Yokadouma road in the country’s East, accounts for a staggering 265.4 million UC, roughly 207 billion FCFA, by itself. This single operation concentrates over 71% of the total amount currently exposed to cancellation risk. Although approved on February 18, 2026, the loan agreement for this vital infrastructure project was still awaiting signature at the time of the review.
Five additional projects find themselves in a similar administrative gridlock. The second phase of the Pan-African University Support Project, allocated 3.64 million UC by the African Development Fund (ADF) and approved on December 19, 2024, remains unsigned. This list also includes the study for the Minkouma hydroelectric development on the Sanaga River (2.994 million UC), the study project for the CUA-Y2 university city (2.320 million UC), and the PROSTABLT program for risk prevention through stabilization at Lake Chad (5.095 million UC).
Furthermore, a strategic regional initiative is also affected: the transport and trade facilitation project, which includes the construction of a bridge over the Ntem River at the border with Equatorial Guinea. Approved on November 29, 2023, this project combines an AfDB loan of 39.97 million UC with an ADF loan of 20 million UC.
PARZIK2: fifteen months without a single disbursement
The seventh project highlights a different, yet equally costly, issue. The second phase of the Kribi Industrial and Port Zone Access Roads Development Project, known as PARZIK2, indeed has a signed agreement. However, more than fifteen months after its signing, no disbursements had been recorded from its 34 million UC allocation, equivalent to approximately 26.54 billion FCFA. This project, despite Kribi being a central pillar of Cameroon’s industrial and port strategy, has consequently also entered the risk zone.
Execution cycle twice as slow as the norm
The data presented during the review paints a concerning picture. The average time between a financing approval and the signing of its agreement stands at twelve months, significantly longer than the AfDB’s three-month standard. Subsequently, it takes an average of sixteen months for the agreement to enter into force, compared to an expected five months. The initial disbursement typically occurs twenty-one months post-approval, whereas the target is twelve months. Effectively, nearly two years elapse before any funds are deployed on the ground.
Minister of Economy, Planning, and Regional Development, Alamine Ousmane Mey, acknowledged the gravity of this assessment. He attributed the delays to insufficient project preparation, lengthy public procurement processes, weaknesses within certain management units, and the belated mobilization of counterpart funds that the state is obligated to provide alongside external resources. These persistent bottlenecks inflate costs and undermine the country’s credibility among its development partners.
Since its inaugural operation in Cameroon in November 1972, the AfDB has committed 130 loans and grants, totaling an estimated 3,345 billion FCFA. The current 2023-2028 program anticipates eleven operations with an estimated approval volume of 833.8 billion FCFA. Nevertheless, transforming these commitments into tangible projects remains, for now, the weakest link in the financial cooperation between Yaoundé and the pan-African institution.
