Cameroon’s outstanding Treasury securities on the CEMAC public debt market exceeded CFA2 trillion at the end of July 2026, but their annual growth slowed sharply after two years of much faster increases.

The stock reached CFA2.061 trillion as of July 31, up CFA80.4 billion, or 4.1%, from CFA1.981 trillion a year earlier, according to monthly statistics published by the Bank of Central African States (BEAC).

Cameroon had the third-largest stock of outstanding government securities in the regional market. Gabon ranked first with CFA3.424 trillion, followed by Congo with CFA3.041 trillion. Cameroon accounted for 19.5% of the CFA10.561 trillion in government securities outstanding across CEMAC’s six member countries.

Annual growth slows to 4.1%

The increase between July 2025 and July 2026 represents a significant slowdown from the previous two years. Cameroon’s outstanding securities rose by CFA293 billion, or 23.7%, between July 2023 and July 2024. The increase then reached CFA452.2 billion, or 29.6%, between July 2024 and July 2025.

The latest annual increase fell to CFA80.4 billion. The slowdown does not mean that the stock has started to decline, however. It rose by CFA52.1 billion in July 2026 alone, from CFA2.009 trillion in June to CFA2.061 trillion, an increase of 2.59% in one month.

Outstanding securities also differ from the total amount of debt issued by the Treasury over a given period. The figure represents securities that remain unpaid at a specific date and reflects both new issuance and repayments. The outstanding stock alone therefore cannot show whether slower annual growth resulted from lower fundraising, faster repayments or a combination of the two.

Borrowing costs decline from a year earlier

Higher financing costs do not, on their own, explain the slower increase either. The average cost of Cameroon’s Treasury bills, known as BTA, fell to 6.97% in July 2026 from 7.10% a year earlier. The average cost of Treasury bonds, or OTA, declined more sharply, to 7.36% from 8.29%.

Borrowing nevertheless remains considerably more expensive than during the earlier development of the market. In June 2018, Cameroon’s average BTA cost stood at 2.81%, compared with nearly 7% in July 2026.

Bonds account for more than two-thirds of the stock

Of the CFA2.061 trillion in outstanding Cameroonian securities, Treasury bonds accounted for CFA1.394 trillion, or 67.6%. Treasury bills, which mature within one year, represented the remaining CFA666.9 billion, or 32.4%.

Primary dealers held CFA1.433 trillion in Cameroonian securities, equivalent to 69.5% of the total, while institutional investors held CFA562.1 billion, or 27.3%. Investors based in Cameroon owned CFA1.711 trillion, about 83% of the outstanding stock.

The BEAC-organized market has become a major source of state financing, although it is not Cameroon’s only regional funding channel. The government also raises capital through the Central African Stock Exchange (BVMAC). In 2023, it secured CFA176.3 billion there through a multi-tranche bond issue.

Source: Business in Cameroon

Cameroon’s cocoa export earnings fell 63% during the 2025-26 season, hit by a sharp decline in both shipments and international prices, a reversal that could cost cocoa its newly acquired position as the country’s largest export product.

Cameroon exported 125,469 tons of raw cocoa beans during the season that officially ended July 15, 2026, according to data released by the National Cocoa and Coffee Board, or ONCC, at the launch of the 2026-27 season. That was 66,543 tons, or 34.7%, below the 192,012 tons shipped a year earlier.

The value of those exports at the port of Douala dropped even more sharply, to CFA400.9 billion from CFA1.07 trillion in the previous season, a decline of CFA673 billion.

The ONCC did not provide a specific explanation for the steep fall in export volumes, which came alongside a decline of more than 15% in locally processed beans. Its figures, however, point to lower marketed production and a sharp increase in end-of-season inventories.

Marketed cocoa production fell 19.9% to 247,914 tons in 2025-26 from 309,518 tons the previous season, reducing the volume of beans available for purchase.

Meanwhile, closing stocks nearly tripled to 40,446 tons from 13,946 tons. That means the volume of beans remaining in inventory increased by 26,500 tons between the two seasons.

Europe Takes More Than 84% of Exports

Telcar Cocoa regained its position as Cameroon’s largest cocoa exporter, shipping 40,631 tons, or 32.4% of the season’s total.

The company, led by Kate Fotso, had lost the top spot in 2024-25 following the end of its partnership with U.S. commodities trader Cargill. Telcar exported 30,497 tons that season, giving it a 15.7% market share.

Ofi Cam ranked second in 2025-26 after exporting 24,394 tons, or 19.4% of the total. SBET, the previous season’s market leader, slipped to third place with 23,223 tons, representing 18.5%.

Together, the three companies accounted for 70.3% of Cameroon’s cocoa bean exports.

Europe remained by far the largest destination, led by the Netherlands. ONCC data show the continent received 84.6% of Cameroon’s exports. Asia accounted for 14%, while the Americas and Africa each received about 1%.

Lower Prices Deepen the Revenue Hit

The 63% collapse in export revenue reflects not only fewer shipments but also a steep decline in cocoa prices between the two seasons.

According to the ONCC, FOB prices at the port of Douala ranged from CFA3,808 to CFA7,536 per kilogram during the 2024-25 season. In 2025-26, the range dropped to CFA1,520-CFA3,110 per kilogram.

That represents a decline of roughly 58% to 60% between the two seasons.

The combination of lower production, fewer exports and weaker prices could have broader implications for Cameroon’s external trade.

Cocoa overtook crude oil as the country’s largest export product in 2025 after benefiting from the earlier surge in global prices. According to the National Institute of Statistics, cocoa beans generated 26.3% of Cameroon’s export revenue that year, compared with 22.9% for crude oil.

With cocoa export earnings down 63% in the latest season, maintaining that lead in 2026 could prove difficult. The downturn therefore represents more than a weak cocoa season: it could reshape the composition of Cameroon’s export earnings just one year after cocoa displaced oil at the top.

Source: Business in Cameroon

Cameroon’s banana exports rose sharply in July 2026, with all three producers active in the country recording higher shipments. According to data from the Cameroon Banana Association (Assobacam) reviewed by Business in Cameroon, producers exported a combined 20,577 tons during the month.

The volume was up 34.1% from 15,336 tons in July 2025. The strongest growth came from Compagnie des Bananes de Mondoni (CDBM), the second Cameroonian subsidiary of French group Compagnie Fruitière de Marseille. According to Assobacam, CDBM’s exports rose 96.6% from 1,685 tons in July 2025 to 3,313 tons a year later, an increase of 1,628 tons.

Plantations du Haut Penja (PHP), Compagnie Fruitière’s main subsidiary in Cameroon, increased its exports by 33% over the same period. The country’s largest banana producer shipped 13,577 tons in July 2026, up 3,369 tons from 10,208 tons a year earlier.

Bananas Remain a Major Source of Export Revenue

Assobacam data show that Compagnie Fruitière’s two local subsidiaries exported a combined 16,870 tons of bananas in July 2026. Together, they accounted for 82% of Cameroon’s banana exports during the month.

The remaining 18% came from the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC), the industry’s only state-owned operator. It also became the only producer under domestic ownership after Compagnie Fruitière subsidiaries acquired the assets of Boh Plantations PLC in 2025.

CDC, Cameroon’s second-largest employer after the public administration, exported 3,687 tons of bananas in July 2026. Shipments rose 7%, or 244 tons, from 3,443 tons in July 2025.

Bananas are one of Cameroon’s main sources of export revenue. In 2025, international banana sales generated CFA67.7 billion for the country, up 84.7% year on year, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INS).

Source: Business in Cameroon

A strategic economic bilateral dialogue between Cameroon and the United States is scheduled for August 27, 2026, as both countries seek to strengthen trade and investment ties and improve the business climate for private-sector operators.

The dialogue was announced during an audience between Transport Minister Jean Ernest Masséna Ngallè Bibèhè and the United States Interim Chargé d’Affaires in Cameroon, John G. Robinson. According to information released by the Ministry of Transport, the dialogue will focus on three main objectives: improving the business climate between the two countries, identifying trade opportunities and promoting investment partnerships.

The announcement confirms remarks made by John G. Robinson during a conference organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Cameroon (AmCham) on the sidelines PROMOTE 2026. At the event, he said the United States seeks to be “a reliable partner for economic growth” through trade, investment and technology transfer rather than traditional aid programs.

The forthcoming dialogue takes place against a backdrop of expanding economic exchanges between the two countries. American and Cameroonian businesses have recently pursued partnerships in agribusiness, poultry production, energy and hospitality. US agencies, including the International Development Finance Corporation, the Export-Import Bank of the United States and the US Commercial Service, continue to support financing, export promotion and commercial partnerships involving African businesses.

According to AmCham Cameroon, business missions and commercial exchanges have already contributed to investment projects in several sectors, while financing mechanisms from US institutions continue to support eligible ventures involving American and Cameroonian partners.

The August 27 dialogue is expected to provide a platform to identify new investment opportunities and deepen commercial cooperation between the two economies, with transport among the sectors under discussion.

Source: Business in Cameroon

Dangote Cement’s Cameroon subsidiary sold 596,800 metric tons of cement in the first half of 2026, down 13.1% from a year earlier, according to the company’s unaudited half-year results published on July 29, 2026.

After selling 300,000 tons between January and March, as reported in its first-quarter results, second-quarter sales can therefore be calculated at 296,800 tons. That was down 1.1% from the previous quarter.

The lack of a rebound contrasts with the subsidiary’s June 2026 announcement that it plans to increase its production capacity in Cameroon to 3 million tons a year from 1.5 million by 2028. Annualizing first-half sales would put full-year volume at 1.194 million tons. That would be equivalent to 79.6% of current capacity but only 39.8% of the planned capacity.

These ratios are not capacity utilization rates. The published results provide neither the Douala plant’s actual production nor changes in inventories. They nonetheless illustrate the scale of the commercial challenge: based on a simple extrapolation of the first-half pace, selling 3 million tons would require sales to increase by about 2.5 times.

Two Quarters Without a Rebound

Dangote’s reported 13.1% decline indicates that first-half 2025 sales were about 686,800 tons. The subsidiary therefore sold about 90,000 fewer tons than a year earlier.

The decline appears to have eased, however. After a 15.8% drop in the first quarter, the year-on-year decrease between April and June can be estimated at about 10.2%. The calculation is based on the rounded half-year and quarterly figures reported by the group and should therefore be treated as an approximation.

That relative improvement does not yet amount to a recovery. The calculated second-quarter volume of 296,800 tons remained below the 300,000 tons sold in the first quarter.

Dangote attributed the weak performance to a slowdown in construction following the elections, delays in public spending and slower infrastructure project execution. In its half-year results, the group described the weakness as temporary and forecast a recovery as spending and project execution resume.

That is the company’s assessment. Available public data do not make it possible to separate the effect of slower construction activity from potential market share shifts toward other producers. Without comprehensive statistics covering all cement producers in the first half of 2026, Dangote’s sales decline also cannot be equated with a similar contraction in national consumption.

The first-half performance largely extends the decline recorded in 2025. That year, volumes at the Douala plant fell 14.1% to 1.2 million tons from 1.4 million in 2024, according to Dangote Cement’s 2025 annual results. Annualizing first-half 2026 sales therefore puts the subsidiary almost exactly at the previous year’s level.

Cameroon’s Role in Dangote’s Regional Clinker Network

Dangote’s Cameroon facility is not an integrated cement plant that produces clinker locally. The group describes it as a grinding plant with annual capacity of 1.5 million tons and a jetty that allows clinker to be unloaded directly at the facility. The semi-finished product is then ground with local pozzolana and gypsum to produce cement.

This configuration links the Cameroon subsidiary to the group’s regional industrial and logistics network. Dangote’s Nigerian plants shipped 754,000 tons of clinker to Cameroon and Ghana in the first half of 2026, up 56.7% from a year earlier, according to the cement producer’s half-year results. The group does not disclose how the volume was divided between the two countries.

A Dangote Cement strategy presentation published in June 2026 sets out the economic rationale behind the network. According to the group, the model “maximises utilisation of Nigeria’s asset base” and “leverages Nigeria’s integrated plants to feed African sites without needing to build further kilns.” In other words, Nigerian kilns serve as a regional production base supplying African grinding plants without the need to build new kilns in each market.

The model allows Dangote to increase utilization of its Nigerian plants and limit the industrial investment required in the countries it supplies. But it keeps Cameroon at the downstream end of the value chain, with limestone still being burned into clinker abroad.

The significance of the Cameroon project therefore extends beyond the additional capacity. The planned facility’s configuration is equally important. A new grinding plant would increase local cement-grinding capacity but would also increase the need for imported clinker. An integrated cement plant equipped with a kiln and supplied by a limestone quarry would represent a more significant shift in the industry’s structure.

That distinction is particularly important because Cameroon imported 3,106,782 tons of clinker in 2025 for 97.317 billion CFA francs, according to the preliminary foreign trade report published by the National Institute of Statistics in April 2026. The purchases rose 20.5% by volume and 14.7% by value from 2024. Clinker accounted for 1.9% of the total value of Cameroon’s imports.

A 3 Million-Ton Target First Announced in 2015

The 3 million-ton figure is not new. When the plant was inaugurated in 2015, the Prime Minister’s Office said the facility was expected to reach 1.5 million tons by the end of that year and that its “actual capacity,” according to its promoter, was 3 million tons.

Eleven years later, Dangote still lists its installed capacity in Cameroon at 1.5 million tons a year.

The project resurfaced publicly on July 21, 2026. After a meeting with Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute, Dangote Group Vice President Devakumar Edwin announced plans to build a new plant in the country’s economic capital. “We also intend to build a new cement plant in Douala. We will visit sites to determine where to locate this plant,” he said, according to remarks reported by Business & Finance International on July 23.

The statement indicates that the project remains at a preliminary stage. Dangote said it was still searching for a site, with no location finalized. No publicly available information specifies the cost of the Cameroon investment, the construction schedule, the new plant’s capacity or whether it will include a clinker kiln.

The location itself also remains unclear. In June 2026, Dangote Cement Cameroon referred both to an expansion of the Douala facility and the revival of a project for a second 1.5 million-ton plant in an industrial zone in Yaoundé. A month later, the group’s management announced a new cement plant in Douala. Dangote has not publicly clarified whether these are separate projects or whether the company has shifted the proposed location.

Sinoma Agreement Does Not Specify Cameroon Project Costs

The agreement signed with Sinoma International Engineering on February 28, 2026, does not resolve these uncertainties. It covers an estimated investment of more than $1 billion and 12 construction, expansion or modernization projects in seven African countries, including Cameroon, according to information published by Agence Ecofin on March 4, 2026.

No public breakdown identifies the amount allocated to Cameroon. The agreement also does not specify whether the local investment will take the form of a grinding plant, an integrated cement plant or a simple expansion of the existing facility.

The agreement alone therefore does not establish that work to double capacity has begun. It mainly confirms that Cameroon is among the markets included in Dangote Cement’s continental expansion strategy.

The proposed expansion therefore raises two issues. Commercially, Dangote would need to restore growth, gain market share or develop new outlets to absorb the additional capacity. Industrially, it must clarify whether the investment will only expand local grinding capacity or also reduce Cameroon’s dependence on imported clinker.

Until the site, financing, timetable and technical configuration are disclosed, the increase to 3 million tons remains a stated target. It comes as Dangote’s Cameroon sales have remained at about 300,000 tons per quarter since the beginning of 2026.

Source: Business in Cameroon