2026 first quarter: Gov´t raises 98 billion FCFA from CEMAC money market.

In an interview granted French language newspaper, Défis Actuels, the Director General of Treasury, Financial and Monetary Cooperation, Moh Sylvester, said the amount fell short by 62 billion FCFA.

Moh stated that the government realised its revenue mobilisation goal for the quarter at 63.1%. He explained that of the 98 billion FCFA raised, 50.3 billion FCFA would be used to finance medium and long-term projects. 

The same official added that 47.7 billion FCFA would be used to meet the public treasury needs of government. Despite the 2026 quarterly short fall, the paper reported that the 98 billion FCFA is higher than the amount mobilised in the first quarter of 2025, which stood at 84.4 billion FCFA.

This year’s quarterly realisation, officials said, represents an increase of 13.6 billion FCFA. Government attributes the less than expected revenue mobilisation to investors who are now demanding more favourable terms from the CEMAC stock exchange.

CEMAC member countries, reports hold, are all struggling to raise funds, but investors are reluctant, and keep asking for shorter periods of maturity for bonds.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motaze, had drew public attention to the dynamics during a working visit to Douala, on 13 February, 2025. 

The Minister of Finance had presented statistics which showed that government raised 1,153.9 billion FCFA, on the same market in 2024. The figure represented an increase of 20.4% over a period of one year. 

During the same period, the rate of reimbursement of treasury bonds from the government treasury rose from 2.67%, in 2020, to 6.33% in 2024, the Minister had said.

The rate of using mobilised funds from sale of treasury bonds to meet state treasury needs, officials noted, fell from 206.9% to 69%.

The Director General of Treasury, told Défis Actuels that government is doing everything to reduce the cost of financing public debt. 

He said it is a motivation that requires reducing the period of maturity for bonds in line with what investors are asking for. 

To attract more investors or to enlarge the subscriber base for public treasury bonds, Moh explained that the government could resort to online subscription by people with small investment funds. 

This, he noted, could interest those willing to save their money by buying state treasury bonds. 

Moh also alerted that government might resort to asking potential investors to decide to fund specific projects of their choice. He noted that subscriptions would be open to raise funds for specific projects.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3854 of Tuesday July 21, 2026