In Cameroon, the accountability of public funds faces persistent challenges due to a pervasive lack of transparency. For the 2024 fiscal year, the Supreme Court’s Audit Chamber managed to track only a mere 3% of all state subsidies allocated to public enterprises. This alarming figure, highlighted in its report on the execution of the finance law, underscores the significant information deficit hindering Cameroonian financial auditors in their crucial certification work.
Report highlights difficulties in tracking public financial transfers
The financial jurisdiction, tasked with judicial oversight of state accounts and public institutions, relies heavily on supporting documentation submitted by authorizing officers and beneficiary entities. However, regarding the total volume of financial assistance granted to Cameroon’s public portfolio in 2024, only a negligible portion could be linked to a clearly identified recipient and documented execution. The remaining 97% effectively fall outside the scope of verification for financial magistrates.
This statistic is far from trivial; it strikes at the core of a structural governance challenge: the state’s capacity to monitor the utilization of resources transferred to its various branches. State-owned companies, administrative public institutions, and entities with majority or strategic state participation annually receive substantial allocations, presented variously as balancing subsidies, investment grants, or tariff compensations.
Public sector entities under fiscal pressure
Cameroon’s parastatal sector encompasses dozens of enterprises operating in strategic areas such as energy, hydrocarbons, transport, telecommunications, agro-industry, and water. Many are structurally dependent on state financial support to sustain their daily operations or meet their obligations. Notable examples include the National Hydrocarbons Corporation (SNH), Camair-Co, and Sonara, whose financial struggles frequently necessitate high-level state intervention.
Amidst tight public finances, compounded by the imperative to keep the budget deficit within limits agreed upon with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the ongoing program, effective control over the subsidy channel has become a critical public policy requirement. The economic and financial program supported by Washington specifically emphasizes the transparency of financial flows between the Treasury and public entities, deeming it essential for credible management of the fiscal consolidation trajectory.
The Audit Chamber’s findings emerge even as Yaoundé has committed, under public finance management reforms, to enhance the flow of accounting information from public enterprises. The establishment in 2017 of a dedicated directorate within the Ministry of Finance to monitor the state’s portfolio was specifically intended to bolster this supervision. Yet, tangible results remain elusive.
An issue of budgetary sovereignty
Beyond mere accounting practices, the inability to document the destination and actual use of nearly all public subsidies undermines several strategic initiatives. It limits the scope of parliamentary debate on budget settlement laws, curtails the Supreme Court’s early warning function, and deprives multilateral funders, notably the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB), of a reliable basis for sizing their budgetary support.
For private investors, particularly those involved in public-private partnerships or concession contracts with Cameroonian public entities, this opacity presents an additional risk factor. The quality of sovereign credit also reflects the robustness of internal controls over budgetary transfers. By publishing these findings, the Audit Chamber fulfills its watchdog role and publicly demands compliance.
The message conveyed to the executive branch is unequivocal: without substantial improvements in information reporting, the certification of state accounts will remain incomplete. Concretely, this necessitates the widespread adoption of a standardized accounting framework for public enterprises, the enhancement of budgetary information systems, and the effective application of sanctions against defaulting executives.
