(Business in Cameroon) - January 16, 2018, IMF revealed that 18 Cameroonian state-owned companies were financially at risk. The Bretton Woods institution disclosed this in its latest report on the country published the same day.

The fund did not name the said companies but it indicated that from the financial analysis and risk assessment of state-owned enterprises annexed to the 2018 finance law, it appeared that 14 of them were highly unprofitable and 4 made little profit.

Indeed, “In 2016, these 18 SOEs had an average debt-to-asset ratio of 66 percent, an Operating profit ratio (operating income to revenue) of -48 percent, and average default ratio (equity/share capital) of -4, a ratio of salaries to revenue of 100 percent (and to operating profit of 38 percent)”, the report revealed.

Before this report, it was known from the 2017 finance law that 12 out of the 28 state-managed enterprises were regularly unprofitable.

First, let’s mention ANAFOR (Agence National des Forêts). In 2015, it had a -CFA31.185 million net result. The result of the previous fiscal year was worse; standing at -CFA132.309 million.

CAMAIR-Co on its part had CFA10.101 billion and CFA17.318 billion net loss in 2015 and in 2014 respectively.  

The net loss of Cameroon Postal services (CAMPOST) was CFA1.271 billion and CFA2.9 billion in 2015 and in 2014 respectively.

Cameroon Development Cooperation (CDC) also appeared in the hit-parade of these bottomless pits companies. The agribusiness which is the second largest employer after government registered CFA10.53 billion net loss in 2015. In 2014, it was CFA5.4 billion net loss and evidently, the company did not pay any dividend to the government.

S.A