A $2.5bn eurobond plan, 703.5bn francs of unpaid bills, the FSNC suspended and families march on the Russian embassy.

Two weeks after Fitch cut Cameroon to B-, the government told investors how much more it wants. A finance ministry official told Reuters that Yaoundé is weighing $1.7 billion to $2.5 billion of international bonds in 2027, and the budget plan behind that number leans on an IMF deal nobody has signed. The same budget papers show why the money is needed: 703.5 billion francs of unpaid Treasury bills at the end of June and a power contract that will bill the state 196.16 billion francs next year. Meanwhile the political calendar is tightening the other way. The government suspended the runner-up's party, no election has been called and the MPs' mandate runs out on Dec 20. Lenders will price all of it together.

What happened. A senior finance ministry official told Reuters on Oct 28 that Cameroon is considering $1.7 billion to $2.5 billion of international bonds in 2027, with timing to be set in the 2027 finance law. The top of the range equals about 4% of a roughly $59 billion economy. Two days earlier, Finance Minister Louis Paul Motaze received an investor group led by Bank of America Securities in Yaoundé to discuss the 2027 budget and debt management, per his ministry.

Why it matters. The 2027-2029 budget framework, quoted by Sika Finance, puts 2027 financing needs at 3,161.5 billion francs. A 1,000 billion franc external bond, "as in 2026", is the single biggest line, almost a third of the total. Another 300 billion francs of budget support arrives only if a new IMF program is signed, and the minister said on Oct 21 that talks have not started. The listed lines also leave about 165.5 billion francs unexplained. Any new paper would come from a B- issuer whose 2033 eurobond hit a record 10.65% on Oct 19, per Bloomberg data cited by EcoMatin. The $300 million tap of that bond announced in early October is still unpriced.

Motaze told the cabinet council on Oct 27 that the 2027 budget sets aside 600 billion francs for domestic debt. "Nous avons prévu 600 milliards de FCFA à cet effet," he said, per Investir au Cameroun. Against that, the debt office counts 703.5 billion francs of unpaid Treasury bills at the end of June, and 588.4 billion of those, 83.6%, had been waiting more than three months. Suppliers and the banks that finance them carry the gap.

The power sector adds its own bills. The Nachtigal hydro plant's take-or-pay invoice is projected at 196.16 billion francs in 2027, about 16.35 billion a month, and the state had rebuilt only 35 billion of the 56 billion franc payment guarantee by June. Socadel, the grid company that took over from Eneo, carries an 850 billion franc liability against 40 billion a year of planned support. On roads, the public works ministry programmed 42 billion francs against a 96 billion need on the broken Tollcam toll contract. All figures come from budget preparation papers and are projections.

Territorial administration minister Paul Atanga Nji signed an order on Oct 27 suspending Issa Tchiroma's FSNC for three months, banning all its activity nationwide. KOACI gives the order as N°00163/A/MINAT. The grounds cited include "l'appel à l'insurrection" and a statutory leader living abroad. Tchiroma took 35.19% in the 2025 presidential vote and lives in exile. In state daily Cameroon Tribune the minister called it "a light sanction, since we can still go as far as dissolution," and said legislative and municipal elections "could" be held early next year.

No decree convening voters has appeared on prc.cm, the vice-presidency created in April is still vacant, and the MPs' extended mandate runs to Dec 20. On Oct 28 the MRC, led by Tiriane Balbine Noah, asked the competent bodies to declare the presidency vacant and let Senate president Aboubakary Abdoulaye act as interim. That demand is party-stated and has no legal path without the Constitutional Council. The MP3, MANIDEM, UDC and PCRN parties criticized the suspension. The FSNC had not reacted by Oct 30. No international wire carried the suspension.

On Oct 28, as Moscow opened its Russia-Africa summit, a collective called Bring Back Our Sons and Brothers marched to the Russian embassy in Yaoundé. It asked both governments to bring relatives home and break up clandestine recruitment networks, Africanews reported. Africanews cites the group All Eyes on Wagner: at least 1,417 Africans recruited and more than 300 reportedly killed.

Two days earlier Bloomberg reported Ukrainian intelligence findings that Russian recruitment rose significantly in Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Sudan and DR Congo, according to United24, which carried the report. No Cameroon figure was given. Cameroon said in April that Russia had confirmed 16 Cameroonian soldiers dead. Camer.be reported before the summit that Paul Biya would not travel to Moscow, and no Cameroonian agreement from the summit was announced. The government has not commented on the march.

Separatist fighters attacked Koshin in Menchum division around 2 a.m. on Oct 27, killing seven people, four of them civilians, Journal du Cameroun reported. The army says it killed three attackers. On Oct 28 an attack on the Fundong police station wounded three people, per North-West governor Adolphe Lele Lafrique, and two soldiers died in an ambush at Nsam near Ndu. In the Far North, we found no attack dated in the window for the second week running.

In Geneva, the UN Human Rights Committee questioned Cameroon's delegation on Oct 22-23 about the Anglophone regions, military trials of civilians and the Martinez Zogo case. Civil society groups counted 1,339 detainees from the Anglophone crisis, 1,298 of them still awaiting trial, and 2025 post-election deaths of 16 by the government's count against 48 by UN sources. The committee's findings are not binding, but development lenders feed them into their due diligence.

■  Health minister Manaouda Malachie said on Oct 22 that Cameroon has recorded no Ebola case after a case in Abuja, and ordered screening at borders, airports and seaports (KOACI).

■  Prince Albert II of Monaco visits Yaoundé on Oct 30-31 and meets Paul Biya, per a presidency communiqué. No agreements were announced.

■  The Martinez Zogo trial heard its 36th witness, Lt-Col Parfait Ayissi Nanga, at the Yaoundé military tribunal (Cameroon Tribune).

■  Sonara, Dangote and MRS agreed a supply deal covering 50% of national fuel needs, signed Oct 22 in Lagos per camer.be and Camerounactuel. Outlets disagree on the term and on whether the Yaoundé ceremony took place. Dangote Oil & Gas Cameroon SA was incorporated on Oct 28 (Investir au Cameroun).

■  The Green Climate Fund approved EUR 87 million on Oct 27 for RACINE, a 215.9 million euro cocoa and coffee program that aims to lift output to 600,000 tonnes (GCF, EcoMatin).

■  The national anti-money laundering committee said 19 of 24 FATF action items are done. Cameroon stayed under increased monitoring on the latest list we could check, June 2026 (Journal du Cameroun, FATF).

■  CEMAC states owe the regional stock exchange BVMAC 3.5 billion francs, Cameroon the only one named, while the exchange lost 454.5 million in 2025 (Investir au Cameroun).

■  BEAC governor Yvon Sana Bangui agreed with the Reserve Bank of India on Oct 20 to explore cooperation on payments and currency swaps. Nothing was signed (Journal du Cameroun).

■  The U20 Lions qualified for the 2027 U20 Africa Cup of Nations after beating Gabon 4-1 in Yaoundé, and the senior team faces Namibia on Nov 12 and 16 (KOACI, Journal du Cameroun).

BEAC Bank of Central African States, the central bank Cameroon shares with five CEMAC neighbors · CEMAC Central African Economic and Monetary Community: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon · CAA Caisse Autonome d'Amortissement, Cameroon's public debt management office · FSNC National Salvation Front of Cameroon, Issa Tchiroma's party · MRC Cameroon Renaissance Movement, an opposition party · BVMAC Central African Stock Exchange, the regional bourse in Douala · FATF Financial Action Task Force, the global anti-money laundering standard setter · ITFC International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation, part of the Islamic Development Bank group

The 600 billion francs planned for all domestic debt in 2027 would not clear the unpaid bills on the books in June. For a supplier, that means waiting longer. For the banks that lend against government invoices, it means more of their balance sheet tied to the state.

■  Eurobond tap. The $300 million reopening of the 2033 bond, announced in early October, was still unpriced on Oct 29. A $690 million ESG-labeled financing is in preparation (Sika Finance).

■  Fuel. The Sonara-Dangote-MRS deal uses back-to-back pricing and 60-day settlement, with 124 billion francs raised from the ITFC in September (EcoMatin). The term is reported as 30 months by EcoMatin and three years by camer.be.

■  Export proceeds. Under BEAC Instruction n°001/GR/2026, oil, mining and other natural-resource exporters must bring home 50% of export proceeds from Jan 1, 2027 and 70% from Jan 1, 2028, up from 35%. Site rehabilitation funds are excluded.

■  IFC. A guarantee of up to 2.87 billion francs on a BICEC loan to microlender ACEP, with an IDA first-loss layer of up to $1.7 million. Not yet signed.

■  Mining. Mines minister Fuh Calistus Gentry and the US chargé d'affaires visited the Minta rare earths project of Lion Rock Minerals and Tronox on Oct 27. No investment figure was given (Journal du Cameroun).

■  Sugar. China's Nanning Agricultural Development is studying an 88 billion franc sugar complex at Batouri. Feasibility bids are due Nov 5 (Investir au Cameroun).

■  Capital markets. Renaprov Finance is set to list on the BVMAC SME segment on Nov 11 after raising 13% of its target (Agence Ecofin).

Cameroon's U20s beat Gabon 4-1 in Yaoundé to reach the 2027 U20 Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana, and Lékié FF play the CAF Women's Champions League finals in Egypt from Nov 1.

The results are improving faster than the money. A consultant quoted by KOACI, Thierry Metomo, says sponsors and investors are still slow to follow.

That's the week. Back next Friday. Reply to this email, we read everything. And if East Africa is on your radar, our sister edition Kilwa Rwanda publishes the same day. Our record, rolling 30 days: Errors 0 · Late 0 · Omissions 0.

Kilwa Cameroon · Friday, October 30, 2026 · Vol. 1 · No. 4 · Week 44

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Kilwa Cameroon is produced by the Kilwa Research team from sources in French and English. Figures carry their source and date, and unconfirmed reports are labeled. We report only what identified bodies and outlets say about named people. Kilwa Technologies is a research and data company, not an investment adviser. Nothing here is investment, legal or tax advice. kilwa.io