France to finalise FCFA 960 bln C2D budget in June

Visiting Cameroon during the meeting of Finance Ministers of the franc zone held on 9 April 2016 in Yaoundé, the French Minister of Finance and Public Accounts, Michel Sapin, signed on 8 April, with his Cameroonian counterpart, Alamine Ousmane Mey, a memorandum of understanding on the 3rd Debt Relief Development Contract (C2D).

Covering the 2016-2020 period, this ultimate C2D which will be officially signed in June 2016, comes with an envelope of FCfa 394 billion.

This will thus bring to FCfa 960 billion the total amount granted by the French State to Cameroon since 2006, as part of this additional multilateral debt relief initiative coupled with the PPTE initiative from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

As a reminder, the first C2D signed between the French and Cameroonian governments in 2006, for a 5-year period, was of FCfa 352 billion. The second one, concluded in 2011 for a similar period of time, had an envelope of FCfa 214 billion.

If the first C2D was mainly invested in community infrastructure (health and education), the 2nd was primarily dedicated to the development of agricultural projects. According to our sources, the priorities of the 3rd C2D will be revealed after its effective signing announced for June 2016.