Gov’t disburses over 15 billion FCFA to clear CDC salary arrears!.

The General Manager of the Cameroon Development Corporation, CDC, Franklin Ngoni Njie, made the announcement recently.

The development, it should be said, is thanks to the dexterous and prompt execution of the Head of State’s instructions by the Minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motaze. 

The member of government had through a release, revealed that the government has completed the full settlement of salary arrears owed employees of the CDC, accumulated over the 2018-2022 period, for a total amount of 35.75 billion FCFA.

The General Manager of CDC said the latest tranche of payment falls in line with Article 6.1 of 10 July 2024 Agreement for the Takeover and Settlement by the State of the Corporation's salary debt of 35,656,665,903 FCFA accumulated over the period May 2018 to December 2022. 

The latest disbursement of 15,656,665,903 FCFA concludes this phase of engagement by the government.

The debt-assignment operation, characterised by the payment of arrears owed workers, has been hailed by the CDC General Manager as a major milestone in the drive towards the recovery of the corporation from the devastating impact of the socio-political crisis rocking the North West and South West Regions. 

The payment, he said, is part of a broader strategy by the government to introduce institutional, legal, technical, and financial measures for the restructuring and modernisation of CDC.

This, the General Manager explained, is to ensure its sustainable recovery and a stronger contribution to the national economy. 

The announcement by the CDC General Manager, follows a release by the Minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motaze.

The minister in the release said the move was the fulfillment of a personal commitment by the Head of State, Paul Biya, to preserve social cohesion, restore the dignity of CDC workers, and support the economic recovery of the South West and North West Regions, which have been affected by the security crisis since 2016.

The move, he said, will ensure that more than 20,000 employees receive money owed them by CDC; to improve their livelihoods and to restore hope and stability for the families concerned.

The General Manager of CDC has encouraged all workers to ensure they sign acknowledgement documents in their various units for onward transmission to the State, after the disbursement of each beneficiary's second installment of 44%. 

He expressed the profound gratitude of the management and staff of the CDC to the State, and particularly to the Head of State, President Paul Biya, for ensuring the company meets its obligations to its workers. 

He, in this light, he encouraged all workers to stay motivated and committed in their job. 

“...the General Manager hereby enjoins the valiant workforce of the CDC to continue to respond to this gesture with the expected increased zeal and motivation in the execution of their daily tasks, in order to achieve the sustainable recovery of the corporation,” the GM said. 

Revisiting lofty gov’t actions to rescue CDC

It should be recalled in December 2024; government disbursed the colossal sum of 20 billion FCFA to partially settle salary arrears of CDC workers from 2018 to 2022. 

Government also opted to pay 30 billion FCFA outstanding National Social Insurance Fund, CNPS, dues of CDC workers and 49 billion FCFA accrued taxes of the State-owned agro-industrial company.

It should be recalled that in August 2023, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of CDC, had, in Resolution No. 1203, set up a Working Group on CDC’s Indebtedness Situation. 

It had as overall objective to propose a plan of action to redress the financial situation of CDC. The measures that the Working Group was to propose were aimed primarily at “cleaning up CDC’s debts and stabilising the workforce to ensure that CDC’s status is restored and sustained”.

It also had the objective to come out with proposals for concrete, urgent and relevant measures for the settlement of the fiscal and salary debt as well as the social contributions, with a view to rehabilitating the liabilities of the CDC and its return to the path of growth, productivity and its contribution to the process of stabilisation and pacification of the North West and South West Regions.

The Working Group held its sessions and proposed a report with its proposals, which was tabled at the level of the government. 

After studying the report, government decided to speed up measures for the debts of the State-owned corporation to be cleared and its workers’ salary arrears paid.

The group had proposed measures which it said would pave the way for the process of clearing the debts of the CDC and make it possible for government to consolidate the liabilities of the corporation.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3569 of Friday September 19, 2025