(Business in Cameroon) - On November 16, 2020, the Cameroonian Public Treasury amortized XAF50 billion on the principal of its "ECMR 5.6% net 2018-2023" bond issuance during which it raised  XAF200 billion. At the same time, it released  XAF11.2 billion as the interest generated by this public offering, open from October 29 to November 9, 2018, on the Douala Stock Exchange, which was finally merged with the BVMAC.  

This was revealed in a release published by the Bank of Central African States (BEAC). The release informs that the coupon per bond has been set at XAF3,060 (namely XAF2,500 for the amortization and XAF560 for the interest) adding that investors can start collecting the coupons with brokerage firms today, November 17, 2020.  

During the "ECMR 5.6% net 2018-2023” operation, the country was expecting XAF150 billion but the operation was oversubscribed (XAF207 billion). Therefore, the country kept XAF200 billion, after proper approval from the financial market regulator.

The success of the operation was made possible by the nine local banks and financial institutions that disbursed XAF121.5 billion to underwrite the bonds even before they were issued. Those banks include the three arrangers (namely Société Générale Cameroun, Afriland First Bank, and EDC Investment) and the syndicate of underwriters, constituted of Bicec, Ecobank, UBA, BGFI, SCB Cameroon and Financial Capital.

With the funds raised, Cameroon launched the implementation of about forty infrastructure projects in the 10 regions of the country.

Let’s note that according to the briefing note published for the fundraising operation, over 70% of the funds would be dedicated to infrastructure projects carried out in the framework of the 2019 African Cup of Nations Cameroon was to host.

Brice R. Mbodiam