Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) paid 20 billion CFA francs in employee salaries in 2024. This payment marks a significant milestone in the Presidential Plan for the Reconstruction and Development of the North-West and South-West Regions (PPRD/NOSO), a program aimed at rebuilding areas affected by the anglophone crisis. The figure was announced during the sixth session of the PPRD/NOSO monitoring committee, held on May 30 in Buea, the capital of the Southwest region.

This financial support comes as the CDC, Cameroon’s second-largest employer after the state, has been severely impacted by the security crisis in the anglophone regions. Between 2019 and 2021, the company incurred cumulative losses of 38.7 billion CFA francs and saw its workforce shrink from over 22,000 to around 15,000 employees, according to a report from the Technical Commission for the Rehabilitation of Public and Parastatal Sector Enterprises (CTR).

To aid the CDC’s recovery, the state, in partnership with Société Générale and Banque Atlantique Cameroun, established a mechanism to repurchase and settle salary debt. Under an agreement signed in June 2024, the total salary debt of 35.4 billion CFA francs will be paid in two installments. Finance Minister Louis Paul Motazé confirmed that “the first part of the salary debt—20 billion CFA francs—was effectively paid to employees in 2024, and the remaining 15 billion will be paid in 2025.”

This capital injection aims to stabilize the company’s social situation and restore staff confidence, especially after years of salary arrears. The CDC’s monthly payroll is approximately 2 billion CFA francs. The company’s revival is part of the broader PPRD/NOSO initiative, which has facilitated the rehabilitation of numerous infrastructures and revitalized the local economy in the crisis-affected regions. According to the 2024 budget appendix on state financial support for public companies and institutions, the CDC’s personnel expenses were estimated at 16.09 billion CFA francs in 2022, or 1.34 billion per month.

Despite these efforts, the CDC has not yet fully recovered to its pre-crisis operational levels. In the first nine months of 2024, the company exported only 22,640 tons of bananas, a volume still below figures recorded before the anglophone crisis began. However, ongoing debt relief and government support measures are expected to enable the company to continue its recovery and contribute to the socio-economic stability of the Southwest region.

Source: Business in Cameroon