Gov’t unveils 2024-2026 external funding access programme.

During the unveiling that took place on April 4, the MINEPAT boss told stakeholders and other attendees that the World Bank had accompanied the government to fashion the new tool to guide the said withdrawals with the aim of making projects executed under FINEX make greater impact on the country’s economy and overall growth.

He expressed dismay that lack of rigour in selecting projects, plus the absence of efficacy and efficiency in their execution have hindered projects executed under FINEX from creating anticipated impact of fast-tracking Cameroon’s economic growth.

It was said that the new tool to be applied during the 2024-2026 project selection, funding and eventual execution, would aim at improving performance for projects funded under FINEX.

Poor performance and absence of commensurate impact of infrastructure projects on gingering the economy aggravates the debt burden, the Minister further revealed. 

In this wise, Minister Ousmane Mey disclosed that Cameroon’s external debt presently stands at some 8,102 billion FCFA, while national debt stands at 11,200 billion FCFA.

He said all debts have the potential to grow due to the giant infrastructure projects that the government is executing in various parts of the country.

Reason why during the 2024-2026 period of FINEX projects execution, the new instrument will put accent on how to up impact of projects executed on the national economy.

More rigour will be applied in the selection process, so that the quality of selected projects and their potential to create the needed impact on the economy and national development are guaranteed, he said.

Also, on the maturity of projects, the new tool will seek to ensure that the guidelines prescribed in the Prime Ministerial order of 2018 are applied to the letter in selection, execution and funding of FINEX projects.

The treatment of the management tool, and the putting in place of a legal framework to guide the execution of FINEX projects are also issues to be straightened out during the coming period of execution of projects.

Minister Ousmane Mey concluded that the absence of such legal framework has created a comfortable bed for project executors to, not only lie on, but even go to sleep, while efficacy, efficiency and transparency are sacrificed.

For his part, the Director General in charge of the Economy and Programming of Public Investments at MINEPAT, Isaac Tamba, deplored the length of time that FINEX projects take to mature.

He revealed that while projects are normally programmed to mature; that is get completed in three to five years, experience on ground shows that some never mature even though they are in the eleventh or twelfth year of execution.

Such prolonged delay in completion aggravates government deficit; which he said, presently stands at around 12,000 billion FCFA, prompting the government to draw attention of stake holders to the debt ceiling prescribed by the CEMAC Commission.

Tamba also drew attention to the persistent calls by technical and donor partners on national actors to improve performance so that projects executed under FINEX improve the wellbeing of Cameroonians and move the nation forward in terms of overall national stock of wealth.