The debt of companies and public institutions is estimated at 843 billion FCFA in the first quarter of 2024. Compared to the same period in 2023, it is down 5.8% and 0.9% quarter after quarter. Surprisingly, the majority of these debts are collected by public companies, with Feicom being the only public institution that appears on the list established by the Autonomous Amortization Fund (CAA ) on March 31, 2024, with a debt of 7.6 billion FCFA contracted from national creditors. . On the other hand, according to data published by the same institution, the outstanding debt of public companies is much more complex, as it is made up of internal debt and outside. Taking into account these two parameters, the CAA, the state agency responsible for public debt management, has developed two lists identifying the most valuable public companies on both the domestic and foreign markets in the first season of 2024.
Inside this
Surprisingly, during the period under review the domestic debt of companies and public institutions amounts to 347.5 billion FCFA. It is led by Sonara’s debt (bank debt and supplier debt) which amounts to 239.9 billion FCFA. The only refinery in the country that was partially destroyed by fire in 2019, followed by Cameroon Airlines Corporation (Camair-Co), the national airline whose domestic debt remained the same them from 31 March 2023 to 31 March 2024, ie 62 . 4 billion FCFA. Cameroon Telecom (Camtel), Cameroon’s public telephone operator, which follows Camair-co, according to the “ranking” established by the CAA, has made great efforts to clear part of its debts. From 21.3 billion FCFA as of March 31, 2023, it increased to 13 billion FCFA as of December 31, 2023, then to 12.7 billion as of January 31, 2024, then to 10.9 billion as of February 29, 2024, and finally to 10. billion FCFA as March 31, 2024. Year after year, Camtel thus paid 10.7 billion to clear its domestic debt. Like Camair-co, the unpaid domestic debts of Cameroon Water Resources (Camwater), Cameroon Development Agency (CDC) and Cameroon Real Estate Company (SIC) remained the same, freezing respectively at rate of 9.4 billion FCFA, 7.6 billion FCFA and 2.5 billion FCFA.
In the case of the Autonomous Port of Douala (PAD), there were the same downward adjustments to the outstanding domestic debt as Camtel. From 14.1 billion FCFA as of March 31, 2023, it dropped two billion FCFA to stand at 11.1 billion FCFA. On January 31, 2024, the same outstanding amount was 10.4 billion FCFA, then 10.1 billion FCFA a month later. As of March 31, 2024, the outstanding domestic debt is 9.7 billion FCFA, a decrease of 4.4 billion FCFA year on year.
External debt
Between March 2023 and March 2024, the external debt of public companies is estimated at 495 billion FCFA, including the supplier and operating debt of Sonara and Camair-Co. This amount is unpaid, which does not take into account debts that received support from the State for the benefit of various companies such as PAD, KPDC and DPDC for an amount of 7.6 billion FCFA as of March 31, 2024, up 0.2%. – quarter and down 3.2% year on year. Sonara concentrates almost all external debt at public enterprises with an outstanding amount of 412.1 billion FCFA as of March 31, 2024. Camair-Co is followed by external debt from out of 61.6 billion FCFA, Aéroports du Cameroun (11.4 billion). FCFA) and the PAD (10.7 billion FCFA)
