A joint portfolio review held in Yaoundé on July 14, 2026, involving the Cameroonian government and the African Development Bank (AfDB), has brought to light a substantial financial risk for Cameroon. Seven operations, previously approved by the pan-African institution’s authorities and totaling 373.419 million Units of Account — approximately 292 billion FCFA — are now eligible for cancellation. This precarious situation stems not from a lack of available resources but from sluggish internal administrative procedures that impede project implementation.
It is crucial to understand that these are not funds already disbursed that Yaoundé would need to repay. These allocations represent loans and grants formally validated by the AfDB, 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 former category, with a seventh in the latter. The total financing for which agreements remained pending reached 339.419 million UC, equivalent to nearly 265 billion FCFA.
The Ngoura-Yokadouma road: a 207 billion FCFA bottleneck
One particular project significantly overshadows the others in terms of financial impact. The Cross-Border Economic Basins Connectivity and Opening-up Program, intended to fund the development of the Ngoura-Yokadouma road in the eastern part of the country, alone accounts for 265.4 million UC, or approximately 207 billion FCFA. This single operation represents over 71% of the total amount exposed to the risk of cancellation. Approved on February 18, 2026, the loan agreement for this vital infrastructure 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 Support Project for the Pan-African University, endowed with 3.64 million UC by the African Development Fund (ADF) and approved on December 19, 2024, is among the operations lacking a finalized signature. Also on this list are the study for the Minkouma hydroelectric development on the Sanaga River (2.994 million UC), the CUA-Y2 university campus study project (2.320 million UC), and the PROSTABLT program for risk prevention through stabilization at Lake Chad (5.095 million UC).
Adding to this list is a strategic regional initiative: the transport and trade facilitation project, which includes the construction of a bridge over the Ntem River at the border with Equatorial Guinea. Approved on November 29, 2023, this project combines an AfDB loan of 39.97 million UC and an ADF loan of 20 million UC.
PARZIK2: fifteen months without a single disbursement
The seventh project highlights a different, yet equally costly, issue. The second phase of the Kribi Industrial and Port Zone Access Roads Development Project, known as PARZIK2, actually has a signed agreement in place. However, more than fifteen months after this signature, no disbursements had been recorded from its 34 million UC allocation, roughly 26.54 billion FCFA. This project thus also enters the risk zone, despite Kribi being a central pillar of the country’s industrial and port strategy.
An execution cycle twice as slow as the norm
The data presented during the review paints a concerning picture of the project execution timeline. The average delay between the approval of funding and the signing of the agreement stands at twelve months, significantly longer than the AfDB’s standard of three months. Following this, it takes an average of sixteen months for the agreement to become effective, compared to an expected five months. The first disbursement typically occurs twenty-one months after approval, while the target is twelve months. This means nearly two years often pass before any funds are actively deployed on the ground.
Alamine Ousmane Mey, the Minister of Economy, Planning, and Regional Development, acknowledged the gravity of this assessment. He pointed to several factors contributing to the delays: insufficient project preparation, prolonged public procurement processes, weaknesses within certain management units, and the belated mobilization of counterpart funds that the State must provide to complement external resources. These persistent frictions escalate costs and diminish the nation’s credibility with its financial partners.
Since its inaugural operation in Cameroon in November 1972, the AfDB has committed 130 loans and grants, totaling an estimated 3,345 billion FCFA. The 2023-2028 program anticipates eleven new operations, with an approval volume projected at 833.8 billion FCFA. Yet, the critical challenge remains transforming these commitments into effective, on-the-ground projects. This conversion, as highlighted in current affairs impacting African nations, presently represents the weakest link in the financial cooperation between Yaoundé and the pan-African institution.
