Cameroon’s audit chamber uncovers vast opacity in public subsidy tracking

In Cameroon, the accountability for public funds faces persistent challenges due to a pervasive lack of transparency. For the 2024 fiscal year, the Supreme Court’s Audit Chamber managed to track only a mere 3% of the total subsidies disbursed by the state to public enterprises. This alarming statistic, detailed in its report on the execution of the finance law, underscores the significant information deficit impeding the work of Cameroonian financial judges in their certification duties.

A report challenging the traceability of public transfers

The financial jurisdiction, tasked with the judicial oversight of state accounts and public institutions, relies on supporting documents provided by spending authorities and beneficiary entities. However, out of the total financial assistance allocated to Cameroon’s public portfolio in 2024, only a minuscule fraction could be definitively linked to an identified beneficiary and documented execution. The remaining 97% effectively fall outside the scope of verification for financial magistrates.

This figure is far from trivial; it strikes at the core of a structural governance challenge: the state’s capacity to monitor the utilization of resources transferred to its various branches. State-owned companies, public administrative bodies, and entities with majority or strategic state participation annually receive substantial allocations, presented variously as operational subsidies, investment grants, or tariff compensations.

Public portfolio under budgetary pressure

Cameroon’s parastatal sector encompasses dozens of enterprises operating in crucial strategic sectors such as energy, hydrocarbons, transport, telecommunications, agro-industry, and water. Many are structurally dependent on state financial support to maintain their daily operations or meet financial obligations. Examples include the National Hydrocarbons Corporation (SNH), Camair-Co, and Sonara, whose financial struggles frequently necessitate high-level state arbitration.

Amidst tight public finances, compounded by the imperative to keep the budget deficit within the thresholds agreed upon with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the ongoing program, effective control over subsidy channels becomes a critical public policy objective. The economic and financial program backed by Washington specifically emphasizes transparency in financial flows between the Treasury and public entities, viewing it as essential for credible fiscal consolidation.

The Audit Chamber’s observations emerge even as Yaoundé has committed, as part of its public finance management reforms, to enhance the flow of accounting information from public enterprises. The establishment in 2017 of a dedicated directorate within the Ministry of Finance to monitor the state’s portfolio was precisely intended to bolster this oversight. Yet, concrete results have been slow to materialize.

A matter of budgetary sovereignty

Beyond mere accounting practices, the inability to document the destination and actual use of nearly all public subsidies undermines several strategic initiatives. It limits the scope of parliamentary debate on budget execution, diminishes the Supreme Court’s vital warning function, and deprives multilateral donors, notably the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB), of a reliable basis for sizing their budgetary support.

For private investors, particularly those involved in public-private partnerships or concession contracts with Cameroonian public entities, this pervasive opacity presents an additional risk factor. The strength of sovereign commitment is also measured by the robustness of internal control mechanisms governing budgetary transfers. Nevertheless, by publishing these findings, the Audit Chamber fulfills its watchdog role and publicly demands compliance, signaling a crucial moment for African governance.

The message conveyed to the executive is unequivocal: without substantial improvements in information reporting, the certification of state accounts will remain an incomplete exercise. Practically, this necessitates the widespread adoption of a standardized accounting framework for public enterprises, the enhancement of budgetary information systems’ reliability, and the effective application of sanctions against defaulting managers.