The Société de développement du coton (Sodecoton) aims to build an oil mill in Ngaoundéré, in the Adamaoua region, at a total cost of 20 billion FCFA. To this end, it has approached Afriland First Bank, which has turned to the Bank of Central African States (BEAC) to activate its "special refinancing window". This mechanism, formerly known as window B, is intended for the refinancing of medium-term loans allocated to productive investment.
The BEAC's special refinancing window could cover up to 60% of the total project cost. Thus, if the BEAC approves the request, it could make available to Afriland and the other banks in the consortium an amount of 12 billion FCFA.
Operational since the 1990s, this window was unknown to bankers until June 2025, when the BEAC organized a presentation in Bangui. The Governor of the BEAC, Yvon Sana Bangui, pointed out that only two Cameroonian banks had used this window in the previous three years.
However, interest in this mechanism seems to be growing. In 2025, the BEAC validated the refinancing of credits of 41.2 billion FCFA for the Bipindi-Grand-Zambi iron ore project and 31.3 billion FCFA for Camtel's investment program. CCA Bank was also authorized to raise 30 billion FCFA for a mining project in Congo. The BEAC is even considering financing the rehabilitation of Sonara, whose facilities were damaged by a fire in 2019.
Sodecoton has already modernized its Maroua oil mill with a loan from Afriland First Bank and plans to modernize the Garoua mill with a loan from the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA). The new Ngaoundéré oil mill will have a crushing capacity of 300 tonnes of cotton per day and will meet the needs of the local market and improve livestock feed production. Sodecoton, of which the Cameroonian State owns 59% of the capital, aims to increase its cotton production to 400,000 tonnes by 2025.
The BEAC's decision regarding the refinancing of the Ngaoundéré oil mill is expected in the coming weeks.
