Despite high cost of living IMF praises Cameroon’s economy!.

He told reporters that the visit formed part of the IMF’s regular dialogue and economic surveillance following the completion of Cameroon’s 2021-2025 IMF-supported economic programme in July 2025. 

The visit was therefore not a programme review tied to the release of funds, the ministry added. The discussions covered macroeconomic prospects, the state of public finances and debt sustainability. He explained that the two sides also reviewed the results of their earlier cooperation and examined challenges that remain.

The mission gave its recommendations on policies intended to maintain economic stability, strengthen public finances and support growth.

Last week’s visit, according to the Finance of Ministry, formed part of the IMF’s continuing dialogue and economic surveillance often giving the country a pass mark.

But on the ground, the feel good effect is a paradox: It is a track record graphically illustrated by power outages, water shortage, roads that have become death traps, unfinished infrastructure projects, and soaring cost of basic commodities with cooking gas, for example, selling in some towns at 15,000 FCFA instead of the 6,500 FCFA and hard being hoarded.

How does the IMF expect a Cameroonian on the street earning the official minimum pay of 45,000 FCFA in the agricultural sector that employs some 70 percent of active population concede that the economy is growing?

Where is the growth when unemployment among the youth is so alarming that it has been termed as a ticking time bomb?

Where is the growth when the IMF says the country is so indebted to the point of being “at high risk of debt distress”?

Has the IMF not “identified tight liquidity and debt risks as constraints on increasing public investment and weaknesses in the planning and execution of investment projects?

The answers may be at the centre of the IMF’s continuing discussions on the government’s economic growth that has been consistently below expectations and reflects structural constraints, budget choices, debt sustainability and proposed spending on infrastructure.

The population does not have a feel good effect despite all the IMF interventions and projected growth with inflation estimated by the Cameroon Institute of Statistics at 3.4 percent last month and spiralling.

That rekindles the debate about the performance of the IMF often characterised by some Pan-African economists with accusations of exploitation and economic rip-offs.

Researches from the University of South Africa and Durban University of Technology in a joint researched study using critical analysis of case studies and economic data last year found noted that “historically, the IMF and World Bank have provided financial assistance to African countries under the premise of fostering economic development and stability. However, the conditionalities attached to their loans often impose stringent austerity measures, leading to reduced public spending on essential services such as healthcare and education”.

Such policies frequently exacerbate poverty and inequality, undermining the very objectives of development. 

Moreover, the debt burden imposed by loans can trap a country in a cycle of dependency, where a significant portion of public revenue is allocated to debt servicing rather than productive investment.

For instance, last year, Cameroon’s scheduled debt service payments directly to the International Monetary Fund totalled SDR 37,958,182 (approximately 30 billion CFA francs).

It included repayments for the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust, PRGT, the Rapid Credit Facility, RCF, and the Extended Credit Facility ECF.

While direct repayments to the IMF were relatively small in 2025, IMF documents are indicative that Cameroon’s overall public debt servicing costs skyrocketed to 2,065.5 billion FCFA under the 2025 Finance Law, absorbing nearly 37% of the nation's total budget revenues and grants.

The bulk of the 573 billion FCFA in loans acquired during Cameroon’s 2021-2025 IMF ECF/EFF programme was structured with a grace period.

Principal repayments on the primary funds are scheduled to begin heavily impacting the budget starting from this year.Due to the heavy repayment obligations and weak domestic tax revenue, the IMF continues to classify Cameroon as a country at high risk of debt distress.

As the economists pointed out in such bleak dynamic, the IMF loans “do not only stifle economic growth but also limit the ability of a country to pursue independent economic policies that could foster sustainable development”.    

Critics also argue that lack of transparency in decision-making processes, coupled with inadequate representation of African voices in the institution, further complicates the situation.

The solution? African countries like Nigeria, Libya, Eritrea, Botswana, Mozambique, Algeria, Mauritius, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Eswatini are not on the IMF debtors’ roll. They pursue a strict policy of economic self-reliance and national sovereignty.

We have the conviction that Cameroon can emulate their example with all the natural resources it has by first implementing declaration of assets to curb pervasive corruption and stop the IMF that is more interested in collecting interest on its loans than the excruciating impact its austerity prescription on citizens.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3916 of Monday September 19, 2026