IDB to lend Cameroon FCFA 48.2 billion

The Cameroonian government will soon take out a loan for a total amount of FCFA 48.2 billion from the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), a subsidiary of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB).

The information was revealed by a decree of the head of state, empowering the Minister of Economy to sign this agreement on behalf of the Cameroon government.

According to the presidential text, this funding will be used for "purchase of agricultural inputs and cotton seed, and their sale to the government of Cameroon."

The destination of this financing suggests that this is a new IDB support to the Cotton Development Corporation (Sodecoton), a public company that acts as flagship of the agribusiness in the northern part of Cameroon.

In fact, the IDB is one of the main donors of this company, which to prepare its campaigns usually gets both large loans from local banks as international financial institutions, to provide input and to remunerate it frames producers in the northern part of the country.