In Cameroon, the annual audit of public funds continues to stumble over the same persistent obstacle: pervasive opacity. For the 2024 fiscal year, the Chamber of Accounts at the Supreme Court could only verify the proper use of 3% of all state subsidies allocated to public enterprises. This alarming figure, disclosed in the financial execution report, underscores the severe information deficit hampering financial oversight by the country’s top auditing body.
Audit report exposes systemic flaws in public fund tracking
The Chamber of Accounts, responsible for reviewing the accounts of the State and public institutions, relies exclusively on supporting documents submitted by financial controllers and beneficiary entities. Yet, out of the total financial assistance granted in 2024 to Cameroon’s public portfolio, only a marginal fraction could be traced to a clearly identified recipient with documented execution. The remaining 97% remain effectively beyond the reach of financial magistrates during verification.
This alarming statistic is not merely a footnote. It strikes at the heart of a structural governance challenge: the State’s ability to monitor the use of resources it transfers to its public entities. Every year, state-owned companies, public administrative institutions, and majority-participation entities receive substantial funding—whether labeled as balance subsidies, investment grants, or tariff compensations.
A public sector under fiscal strain
Cameroon’s parastatal sector encompasses dozens of enterprises operating in key industries: energy, hydrocarbons, transport, telecommunications, agro-industry, and water. Many of these entities rely heavily on State support to sustain operations or meet financial obligations. High-profile cases include the National Hydrocarbons Company (SNH), Camair-Co, and Sonara, whose recurring financial difficulties routinely trigger high-level government interventions.
Against a backdrop of tight public finances—driven by the need to keep the budget deficit within agreed limits set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its current program—the proper management of subsidy flows has become a critical public policy requirement. The Washington-backed economic and financial program explicitly emphasizes the necessity of transparent transactions between the Treasury and public entities—an essential condition for credible fiscal consolidation.
The Chamber of Accounts report comes at a time when Yaoundé has pledged, as part of public finance management reforms, to enhance the flow of accounting information from public enterprises. Since 2017, a dedicated directorate within the Ministry of Finance was established to monitor the State’s portfolio—yet tangible progress remains elusive.
Budgetary sovereignty at risk
The inability to track the destination and actual use of nearly all public subsidies extends beyond mere accounting concerns. It undermines the parliamentary review of the annual settlement law, weakens the Supreme Court’s early warning function, and deprives multilateral lenders—particularly the World Bank and African Development Bank (AfDB)—of a reliable basis for calibrating budgetary support.
For private investors engaged in public-private partnerships or concession agreements with Cameroonian public entities, this opacity adds a layer of financial risk. The credibility of the sovereign signature is closely tied to the robustness of internal controls over budgetary transfers. By publishing this damning assessment, the Chamber of Accounts fulfills its watchdog role and publicly demands compliance.
The message to the executive is unequivocal: without substantial improvements in information reporting, the certification of State accounts will remain incomplete. This demands, in practical terms, the adoption of unified accounting standards across public enterprises, the fortification of budgetary information systems, and the rigorous enforcement of penalties against negligent officials.