• Spending plan reaches CFA8816.4 billion, up 14% from 2025

• Special Accounts nearly double after creation of a new women and youth fund

• Financing needs total CFA3104.2 billion amid high debt-risk warnings

The government submitted its draft 2026 finance bill to the National Assembly on Wednesday, November 26. According to the explanatory statement that Finance Minister Louis Paul Motazé is set to defend before lawmakers, the proposed budget balances revenues and spending at CFA8816.4 billion (about $14.7 billion), up by more than CFA1000 billion year on year, or +14%.

Of this total, the general budget stands at CFA8683.9 billion, an increase of CFA1014.9 billion (+13%) compared with 2025. Special Accounts (CAS) are projected at CFA132.5 billion, almost twice the CFA65.6 billion recorded in 2025 (+98.1%).

This sharp rise in CAS reflects the creation of a “Special Fund for supporting the economic empowerment of women and promoting youth employment,” endowed with CFA50 billion, “in line with commitments made by the Head of State during his swearing-in,” the explanatory statement says.

A budget aligned with SND30

The 2026 revenue and spending estimates show a budget deficit of CFA631 billion. Including “other financing charges,” the government’s total funding need reaches CFA3104.2 billion. Beyond projected domestic revenues of CFA5887 billion, Cameroon will need to mobilize an additional CFA3104.2 billion through various debt instruments to cover all planned spending.

To achieve this, the government plans to rely on loans from international development partners and fundraising on the regional capital market. The draft bill includes CFA826.7 billion in project loan disbursements, CFA1000 billion in external borrowing, CFA167.8 billion in exceptional financing, and CFA120 billion in budget support. It also provides for CFA589.7 billion in bank loans and CFA400 billion in public securities issued on the money market.

These new borrowings will add to an already high-risk debt profile. The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) classify Cameroon among countries facing a high risk of debt distress. The government maintains, however, that its projections show the debt level in 2026 remaining well below the 70% of GDP threshold used in CEMAC’s multilateral surveillance rules. CEMAC includes Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Chad, and the Central African Republic.

The government presents the 2026 budget as a tool for consolidating public finances and aligning with national development targets. “In 2026, the overall orientation of fiscal policy remains the consolidation of public finances, in line with the CEMAC convergence pact, while ensuring the effective implementation of the priority goals of the SND30 (National Development Strategy 2020–2030),” the explanatory statement says.

Beyond its alignment with CEMAC criteria and SND30 priorities, the challenge will shift to execution: mobilizing, at a sustainable cost, the CFA3104.2 billion in planned financing; controlling debt dynamics in a context of already high risk; and delivering concrete results for jobs and the productive sector, especially for women and young people.

Brice R. Mbodiam, Business in Cameroon