Cameroon is seeking to leverage the diplomatic momentum from hosting the World Trade Organization’s 14th Ministerial Conference (CM14), held in Yaoundé from March 26 to 29, 2026.

In a letter to Trade Minister Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala praised the quality of the country’s organization and the engagement of Cameroonian authorities throughout the event. The WTO has formally documented the conference as successfully held in Yaoundé.

The recognition reinforces Cameroon’s image as a capable host of major multilateral events. It comes, however, in a tense global context marked by deep divisions among WTO members on several key issues.

For Yaoundé, the diplomatic challenge is twofold: highlight the success of the event’s organization while avoiding overstating its political outcomes. Although the conference helped sustain dialogue among members, it did not result in a final package of agreements adopted by consensus.

The European Commission noted after the meeting that no comprehensive deal was reached. Negotiations stalled on sensitive topics, including WTO reform, the moratorium on customs duties for e-commerce, and other issues that have now been referred back to Geneva.

Brussels pointed in particular to the lack of consensus on extending the e-commerce moratorium, which prevented the finalization of the broader package under discussion in Yaoundé.

In this context, the positive assessments directed at Cameroon remain largely tied to protocol and organization. Still, they carry weight for the authorities, who see them as validation of the country’s ability to host high-level international gatherings and provide a suitable working environment.

The next step for Cameroon will be to convert this reputational gain into more durable influence within multilateral economic forums. For now, however, the diplomatic impact of CM14 rests more on how it was organized than on any substantive breakthroughs in global trade negotiations.

Source: Business in Cameroon

France has raised concerns with Cameroon over delayed payments to French companies working on public contracts, flagging the issue as a growing strain in economic ties between the two countries.

Following talks with Cameroon’s finance minister, Louis Paul Motaze, France’s minister delegate for foreign trade and attractiveness, Nicolas Forissier, identified the issue as a key obstacle to expanding business relations.

“There is an important issue that needs to be resolved if we want to bring in more companies or build new partnerships, and that is the fact that payments are sometimes delayed,” he said.

Behind the warning is a recurring problem: late settlement of government contracts. French authorities say these delays weigh on investor confidence and make the business environment harder to assess.

Cameroonian officials acknowledge the issue, particularly in the public works sector. A senior official at the Ministry of Public Works said the state owes tens of billions of CFA francs to a French company involved in urban and intercity road projects. Such arrears have fueled concern among companies operating in the country, even as investment needs remain high.

For Paris, the issue goes beyond unpaid bills.

Faster settlement of public debts is seen as a direct way to improve the business climate. “There are always reasons, I understand that perfectly, but anything that helps eliminate payment delays also improves the attractiveness of Cameroon’s economy,” Forissier said.

France is offering to deepen technical cooperation with Cameroon, particularly in public financial management and administrative processes, to help reduce payment timelines. “France is ready to provide its expertise to find solutions that improve the business climate and encourage more French companies to invest in Cameroon,” he added.

Paris has also pointed to broader concerns about the investment environment. Forissier cited “certain uncertainties” that may be holding back economic activity, including the need for greater predictability, transparency, and clarity in regulations.

He also highlighted issues related to regulatory stability, administrative processes, and corporate taxation, suggesting that improvements in these areas would help create a more stable and attractive environment for long-term investment.

France remains a major economic partner for Cameroon. According to Forissier, it is the country’s sixth-largest trading partner, with more than 200 French companies operating locally and employing over 20,000 people.

Trade between the two countries reached nearly CFA1,000 billion (about €1.5 billion) in 2023, according to French government data. That figure was down 9% from 2022 but up 57% compared with 2015.

Over the same period, French exports to Cameroon fell 11% to CFA376 billion, while imports from Cameroon declined 9% to CFA602 billion, leaving the trade balance in Cameroon’s favor.

For France, the priority is clear: maintain strong economic ties while securing progress on payment timelines, regulatory clarity, and administrative stability—conditions seen as essential to restoring investor confidence.

Source: Sbbc

Thirty Cameroonian entrepreneurs have been selected for the 2026 cohort of the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), securing a combined $150,000 (approximately 90 million CFA francs) in seed funding to support business creation and expansion. The beneficiaries were announced on Sunday, March 22, at an official unveiling ceremony in Abuja, where 3,200 entrepreneurs from across Africa were confirmed for the Foundation’s 12th cohort.

Each entrepreneur will receive $5,000, along with structured training, mentorship and access to a continent-wide business network. The initiative targets small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), identified as key drivers of employment and economic activity, particularly amid high youth unemployment and limited formal job opportunities.

The 30 Cameroonian beneficiaries, 12 of them women, were selected from a pool of more than 265,000 applicants across all 55 African countries. According to TEF Chief Executive Officer Somachi Chris-Asoluka, the programme maintains a success rate of over 77.5 per cent. Since its launch in 2015, the Foundation has invested $100 million to support more than 24,000 entrepreneurs across the continent. These businesses have collectively generated over $4.2 billion in revenue and created approximately 1.5 million direct and indirect jobs, highlighting the scale of SME-led economic activity linked to the initiative.

Speaking at the unveiling ceremony, TEF founder Tony Elumelu said the selected entrepreneurs demonstrated resilience in challenging conditions.

“We did not choose you because your path was easy. We chose you because you kept going when it wasn’t,” he said, adding that supporting entrepreneurs remains central to tackling poverty. He stressed that SMEs remain the most effective engines of job creation and urged beneficiaries to drive Africa’s economic development.

In Cameroon, TEF-backed businesses have generated more than $20 million (around 12 billion CFA francs) in revenue and created over 58,000 jobs since 2015, with more than 800 entrepreneurs supported across sectors such as agriculture, technology, retail and energy. The programme’s regional footprint extends across the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC), where supported enterprises in countries including Chad, Gabon and the Democratic Republic of Congo report revenues estimated in the tens of millions of dollars alongside significant job creation. Cameroon remains a consistent participant, with 56 beneficiaries selected in 2025, bringing the national total over the past decade to 866. For the Foundation, the continued funding reflects efforts to strengthen SME capacity, expand self-employment opportunities and reduce reliance on traditional job markets amid evolving economic conditions.

Source: Business in Cameroon

More details have emerged about the failed mediation attempt in the dispute between Cameroon’s Deposit and Consignment Fund (CDEC) and Afriland First Bank over a guarantee of about CFA4.3 billion. Initiated at the bank’s request, the effort ultimately collapsed, even as it sought to prevent the forced recovery of funds linked to a public contract worth more than CFA14 billion awarded to BOFAS Sarl for the rehabilitation of the Babajou-Bamenda road. Despite the involvement of financial authorities, the talks broke down over fundamental legal disagreements.

A mediation push led by Afriland First Bank

On July 10, 2025, Afriland First Bank’s chief executive, Célestin Guela Simo, formally requested mediation from Pierre Emmanuel Nkoa Ayissi, secretary-general of the National Economic and Financial Committee (CNEF).

In a letter reviewed by Business in Cameroon, the bank warned that enforcement measures targeting its assets could trigger panic, lead to mass withdrawals, and destabilize the financial system. It also cautioned that “such a situation could create lasting mistrust between banks and public contracting entities, undermining future commitments to finance major projects.”

The bank further argued that “the use of enforcement measures outside legal channels, or in disregard of court decisions, would weaken confidence in how state guarantees are managed, with consequences for the banking sector’s ability to support public projects.”

Behind the initiative was a clear objective: to de-escalate a dispute that had become sensitive due to both the sums involved and its implications for relations between banks and public institutions.

A draft agreement that stalled

Less than a month later, on August 7, 2025, a meeting was held at the national headquarters of the BEAC in Yaoundé. At the end of the session, a mediation agreement was signed by Afriland’s deputy CEO, Youssouf Bouba, and the CNEF secretary-general.

But the process stalled. The agreement was never finalized, as it lacked the signature of CDEC Director General Rivard Evina Obam, effectively blocking the mediation.

The draft deal included a partial payment of CFA900 million and the creation of a working group, under the Ministry of Finance, to define how provisions linked to the guarantees would be handled before CDEC’s intervention.

The legal barrier

To explain his refusal to endorse the agreement, Rivard Evina Obam wrote on September 10, 2025, to the CNEF secretary-general, noting that “legal proceedings initiated by Afriland First Bank against CDEC have led to a contentious phase.”

By that point, the dispute had already moved into the courts.

Afriland First Bank had filed an urgent application before the president of the Yaoundé Administrative Center Court of First Instance, naming Orange Money Cameroon and BGFIBank, with SCB Cameroon brought in as a third party. The bank sought to suspend the effects of the third-party seizure order (ATD) issued by CDEC as part of its recovery process.

However, following the December 3, 2025 hearing, the judge ruled, under Order No. 887/D/HH, that the court lacked jurisdiction to halt the ATDs. Despite this, Afriland First Bank continued the legal fight by filing a motion to challenge the enforcement of that decision.

Why CDEC considers mediation ineffective

The shift to litigation had a direct impact on the mediation process. According to CDEC, once legal proceedings are underway, the matter enters a formal dispute phase governed by Article 71 of Law No. 2023/011 of July 25, 2023, on the recovery of public debts.

In such cases, mediation can only occur within a judicial framework—either at the request of the parties or at the invitation of the competent court. In other words, any mediation conducted outside that framework loses its legal effect. This is the basis of CDEC’s position.

The institution argues that Afriland First Bank’s decision to pursue court action effectively rendered any out-of-court settlement attempt void.

A red line: full recovery of the debt

In the same letter, the CDEC chief also raised substantive objections to the draft agreement, going beyond procedural concerns.

“The proposed mediation agreement provides for a transfer of CFA900 million against a claim of CFA4.296 billion and puts an end to all actions by CDEC related to contract No. 131/M/MINTP/CSPM-PFC/CCM-TR/2022, from which this claim arises. It is essential to note that this measure violates Article 5 of the aforementioned law, which states that debts owed to public entities benefiting from Treasury privilege are sovereign state claims, imprescriptible and inalienable, except by decision of the President of the Republic,” he wrote.

For CDEC, it is therefore not legally acceptable for a partial payment of CFA900 million to settle a dispute involving CFA4.296 billion, nor to abandon recovery actions without full repayment, given the sovereign nature of the claim.

Criminal liability raised

Rivard Evina Obam went further, stating that “unlike other parties (…), Afriland First Bank continues to hold these funds, which are treated as public funds under current regulations, thereby engaging the criminal liability of the bank and its executives under the offenses provided for in Article 184 of the Penal Code.”

This position significantly raises the stakes. Beyond a civil or administrative dispute, CDEC is introducing a criminal dimension by classifying the funds as public money.

Despite this firm stance, the CDEC director general said he remained open to a settlement, provided it strictly complies with the law. “I remain willing to consider any solution consistent with applicable legislation,” he wrote.

According to the letter, this would require Afriland First Bank to withdraw all ongoing legal proceedings, while the full CFA4.296 billion would need to be repaid, with the option of a payment schedule starting with an immediate CFA900 million installment. The remaining balance would have to be settled no later than December 31, 2025.

In other words, a resolution remained theoretically possible, but under one non-negotiable condition for CDEC: full repayment and the end of all litigation.

BGFIBank and Orange Money targeted as third-party holders

On February 26, 2026, CDEC issued two payment orders to BGFIBank Cameroon and Orange Money Cameroon. According to documents reviewed by Business in Cameroon, the institution is seeking a total of CFA3.68 billion, including CFA3.58 billion in principal and CFA101 million in late payment interest.

CDEC gave the institutions eight days to comply. Failing that, it reserved the right to seize bank accounts, securities, movable assets, and other property.

However, the amounts in question correspond to funds belonging to Afriland First Bank. They are distributed across accounts held with BGFIBank and Orange Money, meaning each entity is not being asked to pay CFA3.68 billion separately.

These institutions are targeted as third-party holders of Afriland’s funds, not as original debtors in the contract.

According to CDEC, failure to comply with the payment orders could expose them to joint liability, on the grounds that they held funds linked to Afriland and the guarantees tied to the disputed contract without releasing them.

Beyond the standoff

As more details emerge, the failed mediation appears less like a procedural setback and more like a reflection of deeper disagreements over the nature of the funds involved. It also raises questions about how much room a bank has to negotiate when a claim is treated as sovereign.

Based on the available evidence, Afriland First Bank’s strategy appears to have reached its limits. The bank sought to ease pressure from recovery actions while simultaneously pursuing litigation, undermining the basis for de-escalation.

What began as a dispute tied to a strategic road project has now moved beyond a simple standoff between a bank and a public institution. It highlights a rarely documented tension point at the intersection of public project financing, guarantee mechanisms, Treasury privilege, and legal certainty in the banking sector.

The Babajou-Bamenda case could set an important precedent—not only in court, but in how such disputes are handled going forward. It also raises a broader question for future state projects: how far can a bank negotiate when disputed funds are no longer treated as financial obligations, but as public money?

Source: Business in Cameroon