Cameroon raised FCFA 1,318.17 billion on the Bank of Central African States (BEAC) bond market in 2025, despite difficult market conditions. The announcement was made on February 19, 2026, in Douala by the Minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motazé, during the presentation of the State's financing program for 2026.
According to the Minister, this amount was raised through issues of Treasury bills (BTAs) and Treasury bonds (OTAs). However, he stressed that these operations took place in a more restrictive market environment, marked by higher interest rates, lower subscription rates and increased competition between the sub-regional States for access to finance.
"The observation that emerges from our interventions on the domestic market is that the maturity of securities and subscription rates continue to fall, while exit rates are rising," said Louis Paul Motazé. He indicated that between 2020 and 2025, the average weighted interest rate on BTAs rose from 2.67% to 6.65%, while the average weighted price of OTAs fell from 98.1% to 95.23% over the same period.
This situation has reduced the Treasury's ability to raise the full amounts sought. The coverage rate of demand expressed by Cameroon thus fell from 206.98% in 2020 to 69.71% in 2025. In other words, investors are now only offering just over half the financing sought, whereas previously they were offering bids more than double the amount requested.
Faced with these challenges, the Minister of Finance stressed the need to adapt, especially as the public securities issuance program provides for net borrowings of a total amount of FCFA 400 billion in 2026. Cameroon, like other CEMAC countries, is increasingly using the public securities market to finance its economy. In 2025, the CEMAC States raised a record amount of FCFA 5,272.8 billion ($9.4 billion) on this market.
