• Cameroon plans 150 billion CFA franc bond on Bvmac in 2026
• Issuance depends on market conditions after past cancellations
• Cameroon remains one of Bvmac’s largest sovereign borrowers

Cameroon plans to issue a new bond worth 150 billion CFA francs (about $268.5 million) on the Central African Securities Exchange (Bvmac) in 2026. Bvmac is the unified financial market for Cemac countries, Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Chad, and the Central African Republic, and is based in Douala. The plan is outlined in the Treasury’s provisional 2026 issuance calendar for Cameroonian public securities, prepared by the Directorate General of the Treasury at the Ministry of Finance.

Alongside treasury bill and bond issuances (BTA and OTA) announced on the public securities market managed by the Bank of Central African States (BEAC), the central bank for Cemac countries, the calendar also includes a treasury bond issue (OT). These bonds are intended to be issued either on the sub-regional financial market (Bvmac) or on the international capital market. Given that 150 billion CFA francs is relatively modest for an international transaction, the fundraising would in principle be carried out on the Douala-based exchange.

However, there is currently no guarantee that the public offering will go ahead, as it will depend on market conditions. In 2024, for example, the provisional calendar of government operations on the public securities market included a 200 billion CFA franc bond issue on Bvmac in April. The operation was ultimately cancelled due to market saturation, as other Cemac states and institutions had issued heavily, pushing interest rates higher.

Cameroon, a major Bvmac borrower

Cameroon instead opted for a 260 billion CFA franc operation combining a securities buyback with new borrowing on the BEAC securities market, according to an internal source at the Ministry of Finance. This strategy allowed the government to raise fresh financing on the money market while extending the repayment dates of certain loans nearing maturity, freeing up cash for other priorities.

If Cameroon proceeds with a new bond issue on Bvmac in 2026, it would be its eighth operation of this kind. The last one dates back to 2023. Initially planned at 200 billion CFA francs, the 2023 public offering was ultimately reduced to 150 billion CFA francs due to market conditions deemed difficult. The same market backdrop also led Cameroon to test, for the first time in the Cemac zone, a multi-rate bond. The approach proved effective, as the Treasury ultimately raised 176.7 billion CFA francs after the over-allocation authorised by the sub-regional financial market regulator.

Although it has not issued on the Cemac unified financial market since then, Cameroon remains one of the main sovereign issuers on Bvmac. On February 27, 2025, in Douala, during the presentation of the government’s financing plan for the year to investors, Treasury Director Samuel Tela said the state has raised 8,646 billion CFA francs on capital markets since 2010. Of that total, 1,206.2 billion CFA francs was raised on Bvmac, making Cameroon the market’s second-largest sovereign issuer behind Gabon.

Brice R. Mbodiam, with Business in Cameroon