AFD funding in Cameroon: where do the 622.8 billion FCFA go?

The French Development Agency (AFD) remains Cameroon’s top bilateral donor, with an active portfolio exceeding 622.8 billion FCFA spread across 51 projects. Yet, beneath these staggering figures lies a sectoral breakdown of 2025 commitments that raises questions: 44.2% of funds are channeled into infrastructure and urban development, while agriculture and food security—central to Yaoundé’s import-substitution strategy—receive just 1.7%.

An investment strategy skewed toward infrastructure

By December 31, 2024, the AFD’s Cameroon portfolio stood at 594 billion FCFA, the largest share of the roughly 1,705.4 billion FCFA committed across Central Africa. In 2025, this amount rose to approximately 622.8 billion FCFA, distributed across 51 projects—47 led by AFD itself and 4 by Expertise France, as detailed in the group’s annual report. The breakdown among AFD’s entities is clear: 574.4 billion FCFA for AFD, 40.5 billion for Proparco (its private-sector arm), and over 7.8 billion for Expertise France.

A closer look at sectoral allocation reveals a marked preference. In 2025, infrastructure and urban development secured 44.2% of commitments. Private financial institutions absorbed 35.9%, governance 6.8%, and education, training, and employment 6.4%. At the opposite end, agriculture and food security accounted for just 1.7%, water and sanitation 2.2%, and productive sectors 2.9%.

A historical focus with tangible results

AFD’s emphasis on infrastructure is no accident. It reflects a long-standing logic and real needs. The agency has been active in Cameroon since 1960, consistently ranking among its top beneficiaries in Africa, with average annual commitments nearing 150 billion FCFA since 2002. A 2025 flagship project underscores this approach.

On January 21, five financing agreements totaling 175.5 million euros were signed at the Ministry of Economy. The largest involved the Flood Control Program for Douala and Yaoundé (PLIDY), backed by a 150 million euro sovereign loan. This project aims to address the recurrent flooding plaguing the country’s two major cities, reducing long-term vulnerabilities for both populations and infrastructure. By itself, this initiative represents nearly five times the triennial budget Cameroon recently allocated to reviving its wheat sector. AFD also backed the Regional Capitals Program—funded via the Debt Reduction and Development Contract (C2D)—to modernize urban infrastructure in five secondary cities, alongside the Sporcap initiative for sports equipment access.

Agriculture left on the sidelines

Here, the contrast is stark. Cameroon’s government has made food sovereignty a cornerstone of its 2020-2030 National Development Strategy (SND30). The Integrated Plan for Agropastoral and Fisheries Import Substitution (PIISAH) 2024-2026 earmarks 1,500 billion FCFA to cut reliance on imports of rice, wheat, palm oil, and other staples. Yet, AFD’s 2025 commitments allocate just 1.7% to agriculture and food security—a figure that stands out when compared to the agency’s broader African portfolio.

Between 2018 and 2024, Proparco doubled its annual financing in Africa, mobilizing over 7.6 billion euros—about 1.2 billion per year—across infrastructure, agriculture, food security, financial systems, and essential services. These continental priorities don’t appear to translate with equal intensity in Cameroon. Yet, precedents exist. AFD has supported 8,000 productive projects through the ACEFA program, benefiting 260,000 farms and funding microprojects in cereals, livestock, agro-processing, and marketing.

The program’s next phase aims to reach a million Cameroonian farms by 2035. With smallholder farms accounting for nearly 80% of national agricultural output, these efforts are substantial—but their budgetary weight in the 2025 portfolio remains marginal compared to large urban projects.

Sovereign loans dominate the financial toolkit

The breakdown by financial instrument sheds light on another dimension of the portfolio. In 2025, sovereign loans represented 33.9% of commitments, followed by senior loans at 23.2%, C2D at 16.2%, and guarantees at 12.6%. Subsidies—non-repayable by nature and ideal for projects with direct social impact like agriculture—accounted for just 6.3%. This financial architecture has its own logic. Large infrastructure projects naturally align with sovereign loans, as they generate tangible assets that can secure repayment.

Agricultural projects, however, often involve dispersed populations, uncertain yields, and long payback periods—conditions ill-suited to traditional debt instruments. The limited share of subsidies in the portfolio may partly explain the relative underfunding of agriculture. Across Central Africa, 64% of AFD’s commitments during this period went to infrastructure and development projects. Cameroon, as the region’s top recipient, mirrors this continental trend. Is this allocation Yaoundé’s choice, or the result of negotiations with its donor? The question warrants scrutiny.

SND30 and AFD: two strategies seeking alignment

The SND30 sets clear targets for structural transformation: reducing food imports, developing agro-industry, and boosting local value addition. Yet, a donor whose primary instruments are sovereign loans tends to favor high-visibility urban projects—roads, drainage, equipment—over agricultural value chains, which require years of diffuse support before yielding measurable results.