Handling of idle funds: BEAC Governor breaks silence on CDEC, COBAC feud.

Sana Bangui commented on the issue which has lingered for months on Monday, June 29. This was on the sidelines of a press conference after the Second Ordinary Session of the Monetary Policy Committee, MPC, of the BEAC in Yaounde.

Quizzed on the battle between the two institutions over idle funds, Sana Bangui reiterated that he had made his position known on the issue during the Finance Week in Yaounde. 

Then, Sana Bangui said he had declared BEAC’s readiness to work with COBAC and accompany CDEC adopt its texts to align with those of the sub region.

“I had said during the Finance Week that COBAC and BEAC are open to support Cameroon adopt its text. The deposit of customers is a sacred decision,” the BEAC Governor stated. 

He said he is aware CDEC has taken the matter to the Court of Justice of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community, CEMAC, in N’Djamena. 

He explained that there are texts governing financial institutions across CEMAC in place for years which other member states and Cameroon had ascended to. The General Manager, GM, of CDEC, he said, lacks the authority to even take the matter to the CEMAC Court of Justice. 

“…CDEC can manage special deposits. Cameroon was a signatory to the adopted text. The DG of CDEC has no power to table such a complaint,” he indicated, adding that COBAC as the regulatory authority of banking institutions is in charge of handling the deposits of clients and protecting their interest.

The Governor declared that there are event provisions in regulatory texts which says it is after 30 years that deposits of clients of financial institutions can become public money.

On October 12, 2025 the Deputy Secretary of COBAC, Patricia Danielle Manon, had petitioned Cameroonian authorities over the handling of idle funds by CDEC.

Then, she had written to the Prime Minister, Head of Government and the Minister of Finance, expressing reservations. 

According to the deputy Secretary General of COBAC, public outcry over the management of unclaimed funds handed to CDEC and the lack of a harmonized law to guide such activities had since sent it to work.

COBAC had argued then and continues to do that, it is still in the process of putting a regularity framework to handle idle funds. 

The petition to government had indicated that work had advanced to ensure protection for clients and tranquility of CDEC and similar institutions within CEMAC.

Manon had also cited the Central African Monetary Union, UMAC, Ministerial Council as having equally built on several consultations with stakeholders to pass certain resolutions on July 12, 2025, regarding the handling of the idle deposits of customers in banks.

The resolutions, Manon had noted, went into effect September 1, 2025 but decried that CDEC was taking legal actions against certain financial institutions in Cameroon.

The Head of State, Paul Biya created CDEC in March 2008. Its pioneer management was appointed on January 20, 2023. Since then, its functioning has encountered resistance from some financial institutions.

The situation long caused COBAC to swing to action to address legal vacuums guiding its operation and management of such money to protect members of the public.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3836 of Friday July 03, 2026