Cameroon’s Telco Camtel has selected a pool of four local banks to support a CFA52.2 billion investment program, according to sources close to the matter. The banking consortium includes Commercial Bank Cameroun (CBC), Afriland First Bank, Union Bank of Cameroon (UBC), and National Financial Credit (NFC).
The program is aimed at expanding 2G, 3G, and 4G network coverage across regional and divisional capitals, university cities, and major higher education institutions nationwide.
To mobilize the required financing, CBC, acting as lead arranger, approached the Bank of Central African States (BEAC) to access its so-called “window B.” Unlike window A, which manages liquidity injections and withdrawals in the CEMAC banking system, window B—now referred to as the special refinancing window—is dedicated to refinancing medium-term loans used for productive investment. Under its governing framework, refinancing cannot exceed 60% of a project’s total cost.
At its Monetary Policy Committee meeting on September 29, 2025, the BEAC approved the use of window B to refinance CFA31.3 billion, representing 60% of Camtel’s investment program. The loan is structured over seven years, with no grace period, and carries an interest rate indexed to the prevailing TIAO (policy auction rate) at the time of approval, set at 4.5%. For reference, the TIAO was later raised to 4.75% following the BEAC MPC meeting of December 15, 2025.
Conditions for disbursement
The central bank has attached two conditions to the effective disbursement of the refinancing. According to an official BEAC document seen by Investir au Cameroun, these include the “prior or concurrent completion of the borrower’s self-financing, to be increased from CFA11.2 billion to CFA20.9 billion, an additional CFA9.7 billion,” and “a written commitment by the borrower to allocate the funds exclusively to the deployment of 2G, 3G, and 4G coverage in regional and divisional capitals and major higher education institutions in Cameroon.”
In practical terms, Camtel must first demonstrate CFA20.9 billion in self-financing—its equity contribution—before its banking partners can draw the CFA31.3 billion from window B. The company must also formally commit to using the funds solely for network deployment, with no reallocation to other purposes.
The BEAC has also issued a set of management recommendations to Camtel’s leadership. These include raising operating profitability so that operating income represents at least 15%, improving overall profitability ratios to a minimum threshold of 10%, and strengthening equity so that the financial independence ratio covers at least 50% of stable resources at all times.
A little-known financing tool
Despite these requirements, the BEAC considers the project eligible for refinancing, citing “the project’s capacity to service debt based on projected cash flows, the favorable evolution of its key financial ratios, the track record of full repayment of CBC advances to the central bank for amounts exceeding CFA100 billion, and the guarantees provided.”
Introduced in the 1990s as a strategic tool to support the productive sector, window B remains little known across the CEMAC region. Speaking at a press conference following the September 29, 2025 MPC meeting, BEAC Governor Yvon Sana Bangui said that most banks were largely unaware of the instrument.
“In June 2025, we brought together all banks in Bangui and presented window B, which is designed to finance productive projects. The finding was sobering: banks were largely unaware of its existence. We reviewed its use over three years and found that only two banks in Cameroon had supported two projects financed through window B,” he said.
To encourage wider use of the mechanism by banks and governments, which the BEAC views as a lever for strengthening the CEMAC productive base, the governor said the central bank is reviewing the regulatory framework governing the instrument “to adapt it to today’s context.”
Brice R. Mbodiam