Media aid: Gov’t allocates paltry 112 million FCFA to private press.

The members of the commission met to review files of media organs in Yaounde, on Friday, August 7, 2026. 

The Minister of Communication, Rene Emmanuel Sadi, who doubles as President of the commission, chaired the session. 

Opening the session, Minister Rene Sadi lauded the resilience of the private media, which he said demonstrates the sense of responsibility and professionalism, especially during the coverage of major events in the country. 

He pointed out that the commission was meeting within the context of four major events of international status that the country has hosted; notably the World Trade Organisations, WTO Ministerial Conference; the Apostolic visit to Cameroon of Pope Leo XIV; the 51st Plenary Session of La Francophonie Parliamentary Assembly, and recently, the visit of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Head of the Anglican Communion.

Rene Sadi said this year’s session was holding slightly earlier than usual, and against a difficult budgetary backdrop. He said it reflected government’s firm resolve to make the necessary financial resources available in good time to support the private media in the country.

“This work gives me the opportunity to congratulate those media practitioners who have contributed to the success of these events and to reassure them of my ministry's commitment to supporting them as much as possible in carrying out their work,” he said.

The minister equally called on members of the commission to examine the 52 applications, four of which are online media, in all transparency.

“I count on the rigour that typically characterises this exercise. I therefore call upon you to work calmly and to demonstrate thoroughness, objectivity, and impartiality, in order to propose to me those media companies that will merit benefiting from public authority support,” Minister Rene Sadi added.

Selection criteria 

According to the Head of the Technical Secretariat of the commission and Director of the Department of Private Media Development and Advertising at MINCOM, Ngankak Kameni Kisito, the allocation criteria remain largely unchanged as in previous years, although some conditions have been relaxed. 

He explained that the commission was evaluating the media organs that show prove of respecting their social and fiscal obligations, particularly regarding the National Social Insurance Fund, NSIF affiliation; tax payments, and job security through employment contracts.

“The process of distributing print newspapers electronically has been validated and taken into account. This means that today, we will consider newspapers distributed in PDF format or electronically, through a subscriber network via the online news stands…,” Ngankak stressed. 

‘Aid grossly insufficient’

The Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of English language daily, The Guardian Post, Kristian Ngah Christian, who sits on the commission, qualified the support as “grossly insufficient.”

Despite the slight increase in the amount allocated for media subvention, the media mogul stressed that the amount remains largely insignificant. 

“It is true that government is making an effort to help the private press. But to be honest, 112 million FCFA for 52 media organs is less than 2 million per media organ,” he said regrettably. 

He was categorical that the 1.5million or 2 million FCFA, which would subsequently be doled out to a media organ, for an entire year, is the amount some daily newspapers spend in a week to run their media organs. 

Kristian Ngah, who is also the President of the Cameroon English Language Newspaper Publishers’ Association, CENPA, warned that government must stop treating the private media as an “orphan,” who Yaounde thinks she’s doing a huge favour to, whenever a paltry sum is given as media aid.   

“That is why the call has always been that media aid should be debated in parliament and adopted, so that we should know that there's a particular amount that is reserved for the private press every year,” Ngah told reporters. 

Kristian Ngah, who is also the Acting President of the Federation of Cameroon Newspaper Publishers, FEDIPRESSE, added: “There's no law that is binding on the amount that is given to the private press. It is unfortunate Yaounde is making it look like it's a favour they are doing to the private press in Cameroon. We have always said the private press has an immeasurable role to play in the democratisation and development of this country…so, we are not supposed to be treated as orphans.” 

Like Kristian Ngah, Thierry Ndong, Publisher of Integration newspaper, and member of the commission, re-echoed the call for an increase in the amount allocated. 

“We will put this money to good use, but that doesn’t stop us from saying it’s not enough,” he stated. 

Comparing the amount allocated in Cameroon to that of other countries in Africa, Ndong said the government of Côte d’Ivoire allocates about 40 million FCFA per media organ, while a paltry 1 to 2 million FCFA is given to a media house in Cameroon. 

“It’s difficult for a media organ to make do with just 2.5 million FCFA a year…we believe this budget needs to be increased to enable the press to fulfil its responsibility,” he added.  

 This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3874 of Monday August 10, 2026