Cameroon Doubles Municipal Performance Awards to CFAF 500 Million

email facebook instagram linkedin twitter Follow @investcameroun youtube Whatsapp –> Cameroon has doubled the financial envelope awarded to councils for performance in executing public investment projects, distributing CFAF 500 million to 10 municipalities for the 2025 fiscal year, against CFAF 250 million shared by five councils at the previous edition. The 10 councils received CFAF 50 million each at the second Awards for Model Councils in the Execution of Public Investment Projects, held in Yaounde on September 22. The ceremony was chaired by Economy Minister Alamine Ousmane Mey, in the presence of Finance Minister Louis Paul Motaze.

The beneficiaries, one from each of Cameroon’s 10 regions, are Ngaoundéré III in Adamawa, Kobdombo in the Centre, Nguelebok in the East, Petté in the Far North, Loum in the Littoral, Touroua in the North, Nkambe in the North West, Pète-Bandjoun in the West, Zoétélé in the South and Idabato in the South West. The list represents an expansion from five councils rewarded at the first edition in 2025. The awards come as the volume of resources transferred to decentralized local authorities continues to rise. According to figures presented at the ceremony, annual transfers increased from CFAF 58 billion in 2020 to CFAF 158 billion in 2025, an increase of CFAF 100 billion over five years.

Arnault Christian Emini, Director General of the Economy and Public Investment Programming at the Ministry of Economy, said the increase in transfers is also raising performance requirements for local authorities. He explained that councils were assessed beyond their expenditure execution rates, using an index covering the full public investment project cycle.

“We have moved from CFAF 58 billion in resources transferred in 2020 to CFAF 158 billion in 2025, and we believe these resources will continue to increase. But more transferred resources also mean greater responsibility for municipal executives and greater performance requirements,” Emini said.

CFAF 78.4 billion in transferred funds went unused

The performance drive comes against continued difficulties in converting transferred public funds into completed local projects. According to figures presented by Economy Minister Alamine Ousmane Mey at the event, a cumulative CFAF 727.8 billion was transferred to decentralized local authorities between 2020 and 2025. Of that amount, CFAF 78.4 billion lapsed after going unused within the prescribed timeframe.

Government budget documents had already identified constraints affecting local investment execution, including insecurity in some regions, which slows project implementation and discourages companies from bidding for contracts, as well as insufficient collaboration between councils and decentralized state services. The same documents identify the Model Council Awards and the introduction of performance criteria into the allocation of transferred resources among measures designed to improve execution.

Emini said the selection mechanism assesses project preparation, procurement and contracting, actual implementation and post-execution monitoring and evaluation. This means councils recording similar BIP execution rates can obtain different overall performance results.

The award also gives additional resources to councils for local investment. Pète-Bandjoun Mayor Nicky Love Maptué Fotso said her municipality executed 100% of its public investment budget in 2025, with projects including rehabilitation and construction of schools, rural roads, communal roads, reforestation and construction of shops.

“We completed 100% of the projects within the deadlines. Beyond being a figure or a score, this translates into improvements for the population through school rehabilitation and construction, agricultural and communal roads, reforestation and the construction of shops,” Maptué Fotso said.

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