Cameroon: A loan of CFAF 231.7 billion for roads and agriculture.

Cameroon is preparing to take out a loan of 231.7 billion CFA francs from the African Development Bank (ADB) and the OPEC Fund to finance road and agricultural projects. 

The funding, authorised by President Paul Biya, is aimed at rebuilding the 240.85km Ngaoundéré-Garoua road and relaunching the rice sector via the Rice Value Chain Development Project (Pdcvrc).

The AfDB will contribute Fcfa216.78 billion for the road, while the OPEC Fund will provide Fcfa14.99 billion for the rice project, which aims to increase national rice production by 10% and improve household incomes. This loan is in addition to financing of 5.9 billion CFA francs obtained in December 2024 from the Kuwait Fund, but also increases the country’s debt, estimated at 13,504 billion CFA francs at the end of September 2024.

This initiative underlines Cameroon’s efforts to modernise its infrastructure and increase its food self-sufficiency, despite its growing debt.