By A.J.
Cameroon is drowning in debt again. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says the country is at high risk of debt distress, meaning the money borrowed is so much that paying it back has become dangerous for the economy.
At the end of 2024, the government’s debt was almost half of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), standing at 46.8 percent of the GDP.
By June 2025, Cameroon owed the IMF alone more than SDR 1,099 million. These are not just numbers. They are bills that ordinary Cameroonians are paying every day.
Anyone who buys fuel, takes a taxi, or goes to the market has already felt this debt in their pockets.
Fuel subsidies were cut under IMF reforms, pushing up transport costs. Food prices have jumped because traders spend more to move goods. Electricity cuts and water shortages continue because public companies don’t have the money to maintain services.
Hospitals remain without drugs, schools without enough teachers or books, and graduates finish school only to sit at home jobless.
This is not new. In the early 2000s, Cameroon benefited from the HIPC initiative that wiped out much of its debt. The promise was a fresh start. Yet today, debt is piling up again at alarming levels. Why? Because the Biya regime, in power since 1982, has borrowed incessantly for decades.
Loans have been used for prestige projects like highways that end in the bush, stadiums that stand empty, and energy plants that never run at full capacity.
Some projects remain unfinished, but the loans must still be repaid with interest.
The result is that debt is eating away at the very heart of the state. Instead of investing in health, education, or jobs, government revenue is being swallowed by loan repayments.
The IMF has warned clearly that if export earnings fall or borrowing costs rise, Cameroon could be pushed into crisis.
That means more cuts, more suffering, and even fewer opportunities for a population where almost half already lives in poverty.
As Cameroon heads into the October 2025 presidential election, this debt crisis cannot be ignored.
It is not just about economics; it is about governance and leadership. For more than forty years, the Biya government has mortgaged the future, borrowing without accountability while corruption and mismanagement flourished.
Today, young people are paying the price with no jobs, families are paying with higher prices, and the nation is paying with broken services.
The real question for voters is simple: who has a real plan to stop this spiral? Who will fight corruption, raise money fairly, and use resources wisely? Who will ensure that every franc borrowed serves the people, not just the powerful?
Cameroon’s debt is no longer hidden in government books. It is visible in every empty hospital shelf, every classroom without chalk, and every family that goes hungry while repaying loans they never benefited from.