A recent joint portfolio review, held in Yaoundé on July 14, 2026, between the Cameroonian government and the African Development Bank (BAD), has highlighted a significant financial risk for Cameroon. Seven operations, previously approved by the pan-African institution’s authorities, totaling 373.419 million units of account – approximately 292 billion FCFA – are now at risk of cancellation. The core issue stems not from a lack of available funds, but rather from the slow internal procedures that hinder project implementation.
It is important to clarify that these are not funds already disbursed that Yaoundé would need to repay. These financial allocations represent loans and grants formally approved by the BAD, but for which agreements were not signed within stipulated deadlines, or where no payments were initiated despite legal formalization. Six of these cases fall into the first category, with a seventh experiencing the latter. The total value of financing with outstanding agreements reaches 339.419 million units of account, equivalent to nearly 265 billion FCFA.
The ngoura-yokadouma road, a 207 billion fcfa bottleneck
One project significantly outweighs the others in terms of financial exposure. The Program for Opening Up and Connectivity of Cross-Border Economic Basins, intended to fund the development of the Ngoura-Yokadouma road in the country’s East, accounts for 265.4 million units of account alone, roughly 207 billion FCFA. This single operation represents over 71% of the total amount vulnerable to cancellation. Approved on February 18, 2026, the loan agreement for this crucial project was still awaiting signature at the time of the review.
Five other projects are caught in a similar administrative gridlock. The second phase of the Project to Support the Pan-African University, allocated 3.64 million units of account by the African Development Fund (ADF) and approved on December 19, 2024, is among those awaiting signature. Also on this list are the study for the Minkouma hydroelectric development on the Sanaga River (2.994 million units of account), the CUA-Y2 university city study project (2.320 million units of account), and the PROSTABLT program for risk prevention through stabilization at Lake Chad (5.095 million units of account).
Adding to this list is a strategic regional initiative: the project for facilitating transport and trade, which includes the construction of a bridge over the Ntem River, bordering Equatorial Guinea. Approved on November 29, 2023, this project combines a BAD loan of 39.97 million units of account with an ADF loan of 20 million units of account.
PARZIK2: fifteen months without a single disbursement
The seventh project illustrates a different, yet equally costly, operational challenge. The second phase of the Kribi Industrial and Port Zone Access Roads Development Project, known as PARZIK2, actually has a signed agreement. However, more than fifteen months after its signing, no disbursement had been recorded from its 34 million units of account allocation, equivalent to approximately 26.54 billion FCFA. This situation also places the project in the high-risk category, despite Kribi being a central pillar of the nation’s industrial and port strategy.
An 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 agreement signature stands at twelve months, significantly longer than the BAD’s standard of three months. It then takes an average of sixteen months for the agreement to come into force, compared to the expected five months. The first disbursement typically occurs twenty-one months post-approval, whereas the target is twelve months. Effectively, nearly two years pass before any funds are utilized on the ground.
Alamine Ousmane Mey, the Minister of Economy, Planning, and Regional Development, acknowledged the severity of these findings. He identified several contributing factors: insufficient project preparation, lengthy public procurement processes, weaknesses within certain management units, and the delayed mobilization of counterpart funds that the State must provide to supplement external resources. These operational inefficiencies not only inflate costs but also undermine Cameroon’s credibility with its financial partners.
Since its inaugural operation in Cameroon in November 1972, the BAD has committed 130 loans and grants, cumulatively valued at an estimated 3,345 billion FCFA. The 2023-2028 program anticipates eleven new operations, with an approval volume projected at 833.8 billion FCFA. The challenge, however, remains transforming these commitments into tangible projects. Currently, this conversion process represents the weakest link in the financial cooperation between Yaoundé and the pan-African institution.
