After clearing five years salary arrears: Biya approves over FCFA 51 billion FCFA for giant CDC factories.

The decrees empower the Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Alamine Ousmane Mey, to negotiate loans to finance the project. 

The first is a loan of over 47,064, 943 618 billion FCFA, to be obtained from the Standard Chartered Bank of London as Buyer’s Credit. 

The amount, the decree indicates, is guaranteed by the French Public Investment Development Bank, BPI France AE.  

The second amount of money for the same project is a Commercial Credit of 4, 669, 635 048, 49 billion from the same financial institution.

Biya’s decision to ensure the money is pumped into CDC, analysts say, speaks of his understanding of the giant agro-industrial corporation’s place in the country’s economy as the second highest employer after the State.   

It adds to a number of key Presidential actions and directives he has overseen between 2024 and now, to put the CDC on its feet. 

The corporation remains one of the nation’s legacy entities, especially for the English-speaking population that, for more than eight years, has been hard-hit by the armed conflict in the North West and South West Regions.

Plants to boost local transformation, increase revenue

 Stakeholders in the agricultural chain have saluted the search for money to give CDC new palm oil, margarine and rubber processing plants. 

They are saying that the action ties with President Biya’s persistent push to make his Import-Substitution Policy are reality, through boosting local production and reducing imports.

When the plants will finally see the light of day, analysts say, the CDC will benefit through Added Value of its main products that will be transformed locally. 

It is also being said that the plants will add to the diversification plant of the CDC and make it more robust in terms of market control, withstanding shocks and playing its key national role as a lead employer of labour.

Offer takes recent gov’t support to over 86 billion FCFA

Monday’s Presidential decree authorising the raising of over 51 billion FCFA for the CDC, brings recent State support to the corporation to over 86 billion FCFA.  

It should be recalled that on September 18, 2025, the Minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motaze, and the General Manager, GM, of the CDC, Franklin Ngoni Njie, issued separate releases confirming the disbursement of over 15 billion FCFA, being the last disbursement to clear salary arrears of staff of the corporation, for the period May 2018 to December 2022.

Ngoni Njie had in reaction noted that the money will benefit at least 20,000 workers. He has since been appealing to workers to redouble efforts to ensure the recovery plan to the corporation is attained.

Before now, government had given the CDC 20 billion FCFA in December 2024, to partially offset the salary arrears of thousands of staff.   Thus, the three engagements bring to over 86 billion FCFA, which government, on the instructions of President Biya, has been pumped into CDC to speed up its recovery from the shocks of the crisis in the two English-speaking Regions.

The actions make meaning of a July 10, 2024 agreement the CDC management had reached with the State, for the settlement of the salary debts of the agro-industrial giant.

Gov’t takes over 79 billion FCFA of CDC CNPS dues, taxes

Before the recent financial undertakings by the State, to revive the CDC, government had long opted to take over the outstanding National Social Insurance Fund, CNPS, contributions of workers that had accrued at 30 billion FCFA and taxes of over 49 billion FCFA.

Biya responding to proposals of working Group 

President Biya’s recent actions are said to be in line with proposals of a Working Group on CDC’s indebtedness. 

The Group, set up in August 2023, had channeled its recommendations to hierarchy to ensure the CDC is brought back to winning ways.

All the actions President Biya has been instructing government to take are said to be responding to the need to keep CDC alive and make sure its huge workforce stays on.   

 Motaze hailed for spearheading revamping of CDC 

Members of the CDC Board and other stakeholders have hailed the Minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motaze, for his pragmatism in ensuring the implementation of proposals from the Working Group put in place to revamp the CDC.

Minister Motaze, one of the officials remarked during a recent public gathering, “has taken up the challenge of giving the CDC a new lease of life personal”.

The same person added that: “It is thanks to his personal touch that the CDC is benefitting from all the Presidential financial assistance. There is no doubt Anglophones will forever remain grateful and indebted to Minister Motaze. He cuts the exact picture of a rare Statesman who is ready to serve all Cameroonians selflessly and indiscriminately.”     

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3574 of Wednesday September 24, 2025