Three state-owned companies—SONARA, Camair-Co, and CAMTEL—account for nearly all of the direct domestic debt currently reported for Cameroon’s public enterprises, underscoring how a handful of companies dominate the government’s commercial-sector debt exposure.

According to data from the Autonomous Sinking Fund (CAA) analyzed by Investir au Cameroun, the three companies carried a combined CFA297.3 billion ($510 million) in direct domestic debt as of the end of June 2026, representing 93% of the CFA319.6 billion outstanding across public enterprises and establishments.

The figure does not include floating debt or the liabilities of the Cameroon Electricity Company (Socadel), which are still being assessed.

The reported debt stock was unchanged from May. However, it declined by 0.8% over three months and by 8.3% year over year. These changes apply only to direct domestic debt contracted by public entities and exclude other categories of liabilities tracked separately by the CAA.

SONARA Alone Represents Nearly 60% of the Total

With CFA191.3 billion in outstanding debt, the National Refining Company (SONARA) remains by far the country’s most indebted public enterprise in this category, accounting for 59.9% of the total portfolio.

The CAA breaks down SONARA’s debt into CFA162.4 billion in bank loans and CFA28.8 billion owed to suppliers. The rounded figures add up to CFA191.2 billion, leaving a CFA100 million difference from the published total, likely due to rounding in the report.

Despite remaining the largest debtor, SONARA has reduced its outstanding debt by CFA8.2 billion since December 2025, when it stood at CFA199.5 billion. The 4.1% decline comes as the company continues to seek financing for the rehabilitation of its refinery, whose operations were halted after a fire in May 2019.

Camair-Co ranks second with CFA62.4 billion, equal to 19.5% of the reported debt stock. Its outstanding debt has remained unchanged since December 2025.

CAMTEL completes the top three with CFA43.6 billion, or 13.6% of the total. The state-owned telecommunications operator reduced its domestic debt by CFA5.9 billion, or 11.9%, compared with the CFA49.5 billion recorded at the end of June 2025.

All other public entities combined account for just CFA22.3 billion, or 7% of the portfolio. The Cameroon Development Corporation carries CFA9.4 billion in debt, followed by FEICOM with CFA7.6 billion, Camwater with CFA5.2 billion, and the Port Authority of Douala with CFA100 million.

Floating Debt Adds Another CFA156.5 Billion

The 93% concentration does not include the floating debt of public enterprises, which the CAA tracks separately.

That category totaled CFA156.5 billion at the end of June 2026, down 19.5% from a year earlier.

Tax and customs obligations make up the largest share at 68.6%, or about CFA107.4 billion. Commercial debt accounts for 21.3%, or CFA33.3 billion. Academic debt represents about CFA13 billion, or 8.3% of the total, while social security obligations amount to CFA2.8 billion, or 1.8%.

The breakdown shows that the liabilities of public enterprises extend beyond bank borrowing and supplier debt to include unpaid taxes, customs duties, social contributions, and other obligations accumulated through day-to-day operations.

Socadel Could Significantly Change the Debt Picture

The CAA notes that the CFA319.6 billion reported for direct domestic debt does not yet include the liabilities of Socadel, created following the renationalization of former power utility Eneo.

The assessment of those liabilities is still underway, based on a preliminary estimate of roughly CFA800 billion.

Taken on its own, that indicative amount is about two and a half times larger than the entire direct domestic debt currently reported for public enterprises. However, it cannot be added directly to the CFA319.6 billion until the CAA finalizes the assessment and determines how the liabilities should be classified, including bank debt, supplier obligations, tax liabilities, social contributions, and any overlapping claims involving other public entities.

As a result, while SONARA, Camair-Co, and CAMTEL currently account for 93% of the direct domestic debt officially reported by the CAA, that concentration reflects only the published portfolio. Once Socadel’s liabilities are incorporated, the financial profile of Cameroon’s state-owned commercial sector could change substantially.

Source: Business in Cameroon

Cameroon spent CFA274.3 billion on hydrocarbon imports in the first quarter of 2026, a 2.5% increase from a year earlier, even as revenue from crude oil exports fell sharply, according to the National Economic and Financial Committee’s (CNEF) latest economic report.

Between January and March, crude oil exports generated CFA152.4 billion, down 14.4% from CFA178 billion during the same period in 2025. The figures underscore Cameroon’s energy paradox: although the country produces oil and natural gas, it remains heavily dependent on imported refined petroleum products to meet domestic demand.

Fuel imports totaled CFA267.7 billion in the first quarter of 2025. The additional CFA6.6 billion spent this year kept petroleum products as Cameroon’s largest import category, ahead of machinery and mechanical equipment worth CFA115 billion and vehicles valued at CFA82.8 billion.

Export Revenue Falls Despite Higher Oil Prices

The decline in crude oil export earnings came even as global energy prices strengthened. According to the World Bank, Brent crude averaged $103.7 per barrel in March 2026, up 42.8% from $72.6 a year earlier. European benchmark natural gas prices also rose 35.3% over the same period to $17.91 per million BTU.

The drop in Cameroon’s export revenue despite higher prices suggests lower export volumes or changes in the country’s export mix. However, the CNEF report does not provide enough data to determine the exact cause.

The first-quarter figures extend a longer-term decline. Crude oil export revenue, which peaked at CFA1.51 trillion in 2022, fell to CFA705.6 billion in 2025, a drop of more than 50% in three years. Liquefied natural gas exports have followed a similar trend, declining from CFA631.5 billion in 2022 to CFA363.3 billion in 2025, a 42.5% decrease.

Import Bill Remains High

Meanwhile, Cameroon’s spending on imported petroleum products remains structurally high. After reaching a record CFA1.15 trillion in 2022, hydrocarbon imports totaled CFA891.1 billion in 2025. The increase recorded during the first quarter suggests the country’s energy import bill will remain substantial this year. Petroleum imports alone were worth more than twice the value of machinery imports during the period.

The country’s dependence on imported fuels largely stems from the shutdown of the National Refining Company’s (Sonara) refinery following the fire that damaged part of its facilities. As a result, Cameroon exports crude oil while importing gasoline, diesel, kerosene and other refined petroleum products needed by households, businesses and public institutions.

That structure exposes the country to swings in global oil prices, shipping costs and exchange rate movements. It also puts pressure on foreign exchange reserves, the trade balance and public finances, particularly when the government subsidizes fuel prices to shield consumers from international market fluctuations.

BEAC Urges Faster Refinery Projects

The Bank of Central African States (BEAC) is urging Cameroon to accelerate the reconstruction of Sonara and move forward with the planned C-Star refinery in Kribi.

In its report on inflation trends in the CEMAC region through March 2026, the central bank said both projects are essential to reducing the country’s exposure to global oil price volatility and limiting its impact on domestic fuel prices. The government is no longer planning a simple repair of the Sonara refinery. Instead, it intends to completely rebuild and modernize the facility at an estimated cost of about CFA700 billion.

The project includes replacing facilities destroyed in the fire, which damaged four of the refinery’s 13 processing units and a crude oil storage tank. It also calls for adding new processing capacity, including a hydrocracker. The new equipment is expected to improve the refinery’s ability to process domestic crude and increase production of fuels for the local market.

Whether those investments move forward will play a key role in reducing Cameroon’s dependence on imported fuels. Without restoring domestic refining capacity, the country is likely to continue spending heavily on petroleum imports even as revenue from its own hydrocarbon exports continues to decline.

Source: Sbbc

Afriland First Bank, the lender founded by Cameroonian billionaire Paul Fokam Kammogne, has become the first Cameroonian bank to establish itself in the Central African Republic, opening a branch in a market where fewer than one in ten adults holds a bank account.

The bank announced the opening in a statement on July 15, saying the branch has been operational since June. It is capitalised at 2.15 billion CFA francs, about $3.7 million, and is headed by Zavier Ngueutheu, previously manager of Afriland’s branch in the Cameroonian city of Bertoua.

The move follows authorisation granted in December by the Central African Banking Commission, the regional regulator known as COBAC, under a single-licence regime that allows banks licensed in one member state of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community to open branches across the bloc without seeking separate approvals.

The market Afriland is entering is small but largely untapped. Banking assets in the Central African Republic stood at 519.6 billion CFA francs, roughly $907 million, at the end of 2025. The country has about six million people, only four commercial banks, and a banking penetration rate estimated at 7 percent, leaving the overwhelming majority of the population outside the formal financial system.

Afriland has set an ambitious target. The bank aims to capture 10 percent of deposits in the market by 2030, according to projections submitted to the regulator, and intends to focus on local businesses alongside Cameroonian companies already operating in the country. It plans to build out retail banking, corporate banking and digital services.

The scale of the parent bank dwarfs the market it is entering. Afriland First Bank is the largest Cameroonian bank by balance sheet, with total assets of 2.55 trillion CFA francs, about $4.45 billion, at the end of December, alongside 1.95 trillion francs in deposits and 1.667 trillion francs in outstanding loans. Its new Central African branch holds capital equivalent to a fraction of a percent of that balance sheet.

The opening is the first step in a broader regional push. Afriland is preparing to enter Chad before the end of the year and has signalled plans for the Republic of Congo, markets it has targeted for several years but could not easily reach until the regional licensing rules were eased. The bank said its presence in the Central African Republic reflects a determination to support states, industrialists, investors and individuals across the monetary bloc with banking solutions and local expertise.

Fokam has been building toward this for decades. He founded the institution in 1986 as Caisse Commune d’Epargne et d’Investissement, securing its banking licence in July 1987 with initial capital of 300 million CFA francs, and renamed it Afriland First Bank in 2002. Its capital has grown to 50 billion francs. He has written about the resistance he faced from Cameroonian officials in the bank’s earliest days, describing repeated attempts to seek intervention from President Paul Biya to obtain the authorisation he needed.

The group now spans much of the continent. Afriland operates subsidiaries in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Liberia, South Sudan, Sao Tome and Principe, Benin and Zambia, and has held interests in Uganda. The holding company, Afriland First Group, is based in Geneva and chaired by Fokam, a structure that has drawn periodic criticism from the regional central bank.

His influence extends beyond commercial banking. Fokam built a network of self-managed microfinance cooperatives known as MC2, designed to extend financial services into rural Cameroonian communities, a project he has described as the achievement he is proudest of. The group also runs an investment vehicle, Afriland First Holding, launched in Togo in 2022, which structured a roughly 800 billion CFA franc agro-industrial and power project signed with the Central African government and an Indian industrial partner last year.

That project helps explain the timing of the branch opening. Afriland was already involved in arranging large-scale investment in the Central African Republic before it had a banking presence there, and a local branch gives it the ability to service those transactions directly rather than through correspondent arrangements.

The expansion comes as the group rebuilds its footprint in Central Africa. Afriland had retreated to a single Cameroonian subsidiary in the region after Equatorial Guinea’s government bought out its stake in CCEI Bank GE, a transaction valued at about 44.7 million euros that made the state the majority shareholder in that country’s largest bank.

Fokam, now in his seventies, remains chief executive of the bank he founded and is counted among the wealthiest people in Cameroon. The Central African branch is the first tangible result of a regional strategy that has been years in preparation, and its performance against the 2030 deposit target will indicate whether the rest of the plan can follow.

Source: Billionaire.Africa

Cameroon’s National Hydrocarbons Corporation (SNH) reported a balance of CFA49.253 billion ($about 87 million) available for transfer to the government at the end of the first quarter of 2026.

According to the state-owned company, the amount represents 52.2% of the CFA94.345 billion generated from the sale of the state’s share of oil and gas production and other related income during the quarter.

The remaining CFA45.093 billion, or 47.8% of total revenue, was allocated to expenses and commitments. These included CFA17.406 billion in partnership-related expenses, CFA18.052 billion in gas-sector commitments, and CFA9.635 billion in other commitments.

SNH, however, did not provide a breakdown of those categories or indicate which amounts had already been paid and which remained accounting commitments.

The distinction is important because the published balance is described as “available for transfer” rather than “transferred.” The report shows the amount remaining after expenses and commitments but does not indicate whether the funds had actually been transferred to the Treasury or when such a transfer might occur.

As a result, the figure cannot be treated as government revenue already received. It also differs from the “SNH royalty” reported in Cameroon’s budget accounts.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the Treasury received CFA91.8 billion in SNH royalties by the end of March 2026, compared with a quarterly target of CFA106 billion. The nearly CFA42.5 billion gap between that figure and SNH’s transferable balance may reflect differences in timing, accounting methods, or reporting scope. The available documents do not allow for a detailed reconciliation.

Crude oil remained the government’s main source of hydrocarbon revenue

Crude oil continued to generate the largest share of government hydrocarbon income. Sales of 1.662 million barrels produced CFA64.218 billion, accounting for 68.1% of total gross revenue recorded for the state’s share of production.

The cargoes were sold at an average price of $69.74 per barrel, generating total sales of $115.877 million. Natural gas ranked second, contributing CFA22.112 billion, or 23.4% of quarterly revenue. Gas sales to Gazprom alone generated CFA15.103 billion, ahead of sales to Kribi Power Development Company (KPDC) and Keda.

Sales of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to the government and Tradex added CFA3.421 billion, while other revenue totaled CFA4.594 billion. Overall, hydrocarbon sales attributable to the state reached CFA89.751 billion. Including other revenue brought total gross receipts to CFA94.345 billion.

Rio del Rey remained the main oil-producing basin

Total crude oil production allocated to the government and its operating partners reached 4.599 million barrels during the first quarter. The government received 2.691 million barrels, representing 58.5% of the total, while private partners were allocated 1.908 million barrels. Production remained heavily concentrated.

The Rio del Rey basin accounted for about 2.357 million barrels, or 51.3% of total output. Lokele produced 1.053 million barrels and Iroko 335,000 barrels. Other fields contributed a combined 854,000 barrels, or 18.6% of quarterly production.

Natural gas production was even more concentrated. Of the 17.806 billion cubic feet produced during the quarter, the Sanaga South field accounted for 17.529 billion cubic feet, or 98.4% of total output. Logbaba produced only 277 million cubic feet. All 7,282 metric tons of liquefied petroleum gas produced during the period also came from Sanaga South. Production and sales, however, did not necessarily occur during the same period.

The government sold about 1.029 million fewer barrels than were allocated to it during the quarter, while operating partners sold roughly 1.063 million more barrels than their first-quarter production share. These differences likely reflect the timing of production, storage, and cargo liftings, meaning quarterly sales may include oil produced earlier or exclude volumes still in storage.

Partners generated nearly CFA199 billion in hydrocarbon sales

Hydrocarbon sales attributable to private operating partners totaled CFA198.891 billion during the quarter.

Crude oil accounted for CFA147.370 billion, natural gas for CFA50.076 billion, and LPG for CFA1.445 billion. The report shows that partners sold their crude at an average price of $87.17 per barrel, compared with $69.74 per barrel for the state’s share.

That 25% difference should not be interpreted as evidence of stronger commercial performance, however. Without additional information on crude quality, shipment dates, market conditions, and contract terms, the figures are not directly comparable.

Including both the government’s and partners’ shares, total hydrocarbon sales reached CFA288.642 billion during the quarter. Adding other state revenue brought the total commercial value recorded by SNH to CFA293.236 billion. That figure reflects the scale of commercial transactions handled by SNH but does not represent government budget revenue.

Only the balance available after expenses and commitments—CFA49.253 billion—is presented as transferable to the state. Whether that amount ultimately appears in Treasury accounts will depend on when, and if, the transfer is completed.

Source: Business in Cameroon