The International Monetary Fund has raised a red alarm against the Cameroonian government.
The state of Cameroon’s economy is in a major mess. As the ongoing presidential election is progressing, there is a need for Cameroonians to be aware. There is a red alert raised by the IMF that Cameroon has borrowed, borrowed until the Cameroon economy is on the verge of collapsing, that the money which Cameroon has borrowed, if Cameroon has to even start paying back, the economy will crumble, and that Cameroon is heavily indebted. This was first a report released in 2024.
Now, as of June 2025, according to the IMF, the Cameroon government has borrowed up to 840.886 trillion. Now, this is the money that President Paul Biya’s government has borrowed. This excludes the amount recently borrowed from July, August, and September.
Between July, August, September, the government of Cameroon has borrowed more than 500 billion CFA, and that will also exclude the nearest borrowing that will be between October, November, December, because they will also have to borrow to run the regional election. Now, that will exclude that amount.
So, if they borrow, it means that the next government that is coming will inherit the debt. This explains why foreign subsidies were removed. The foreign subsidies were removed to even start paying back some of the loans that were borrowed before. Now, these foreign subsidies that were removed plunged the nation into a hardcore hardship, where prices automatically increased, inter-urban transportation increased, and farmers now had to bear the cost of transporting their goods from one place to another, thereby increasing the price of basic commodities, and taxes increased, and they started taxing everything, taxing goods, taxing mobile money.
That’s why in Cameroon, for you to keep your goods, it’s tax; you have to pay a certain amount of 1,500, for you to kill a cow, it’s 5,000, for you to kill a broiler, it’s 250 francs. So, you have, in fact, we are taxed; the only thing that we are not taxed on is greetings. We are taxed.
That explains why you hear they will tell you that elites in the south-central area, in the north-west, gathered in Douala, and raised 101 million francs CFA to help President Paul Biya campaign. They will tell you that elites in the south-west region contributed such an amount. Where is the money coming from? In a normal country.
How do you explain the fact that a minister, a member of parliament, is donating millions for a campaign, and that their salary itself is how much? These people are not doing it in a hidden way, but openly. In a normal country, how do you even explain that you…
This election, in October, it’s a wake-up call. It’s a wake-up call for many.
They will not be there to pay the debts. They will not be there to pay the amount of money that they have borrowed. They know they will not be there.
So why? They are borrowing. How can you be 87, 90? You are borrowing billions. They know they will not be there to pay back. So who will pay? They will not be there to pay. They know who will be there.
And that’s why when I hear some youth say, Oh, I’m not interested in politics. Politics is not a thing. Oh, Paul Biya has already won.
