(Business in Cameroon) - On 31 July 2016, we officially learned, the public debt service in Cameroon consumed a global amount of FCfa 483 billion, with FCfa 327 billion for the domestic debt. According to our sources, honouring the commitments taken by the State of Cameroon with its sponsors mainly helped in boosting the accounts of four local banks.

Indeed, we learn, out of a total of FCfa 327 billion dedicated to the domestic public debt, FCfa 150 billion were channelled to the repayment of a loan of FCfa 143.3 billion, granted in February 2015 to the government, by a bank consortium led by BGFI Cameroon. The local subsidiaries of Société Générale and Ecobank were also in this consortium, followed by Cameroonian Afriland First Bank.

Though the Cameroonian subsidiaries of BGFI Bank and Afriland First Bank took part in this operation meant to refinance the Société Nationale de Raffinage (Sonara – National Refinery Company) using equity capital, we learned at the time of the signing of the loan agreement, Société Générale and Ecobank each had to resort to requests for capital from their Congolese and Equato-Guinean subsidiaries.

BRM