(Business in Cameroon) - Alamine Ousmane Mey, Cameroon’s minister of finance, said that during the 2017 fiscal year, public treasury has paid CFA14 billion to local SMEs for various services. He said this during a cabinet council in January 2018.

The minister explained that the amount has considerably increased (by more than 60%), compared to the CFA8.6 billion paid to those SMEs in 2016.

However, it is just a small portion of the debt government owes SMEs. Indeed, Cameroon has become a bad payer due to the financial difficulties it is faced with for at least two years now, because of the decrease in public revenues.

Let’s note that the amount government owes local SMEs is so fabulous that neither the state nor the companies can now state its exact volume. Hence the audit that the minister of finance announced recently.

BRM