Yaoundé, November 16, 2025 (True Cameroon) — The Biya government has signed yet another massive foreign loan this time €184.9 million (≈ CFAF 121.3 billion) from the International Development Association (IDA) to finance a “multi-phase water security project.” But beyond the glossy language and official decree lies a hard reality: Cameroon is a country drowning in debt, not rising in development.
After 43 years of CPDM rule, the government still depends on external lenders to provide one of the most basic human necessities clean water. The question is no longer why Cameroon is borrowing. The question is: why does nothing ever change?
This decree exposes the deep dysfunctions of a political system where borrowing has become a substitute for governance, and where debt is a political survival mechanism not a development tool.
I. Cameroon’s Dangerous Addiction to Debt
Every year the regime signs new multi-billion franc loans:
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for roads
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for water
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for hospitals
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for electricity
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for agriculture
Yet every year, ordinary Cameroonians see nothing.
Despite decades of loans, Cameroon still lacks:
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stable electricity
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potable water
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functioning hospitals
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decent schools
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modernized agriculture
This is not development.
This is state failure financed by foreign lenders.
The chronic borrowing shows that after 40+ years in power, the regime has no capacity to fund basic services because corruption has drained the public treasury beyond repair.
II. Water Crisis by Design — Not by Accident
If water scarcity were a natural problem, these loans might make sense.
But Cameroon has been signing water projects since the 1990s. Billions have flowed through the system, yet:
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Yaoundé’s taps run dry for weeks
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Douala depends on rationing
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Buea and Limbe experience chronic shortages
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Bamenda relies on streams and untreated wells
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Rural communities fetch dirty water from rivers
The truth is simple:
Cameroon does not lack water. Cameroon lacks governance.
Water projects have become an endless cycle of:
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contracts
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commissions
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inflated procurement
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abandoned works
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zero accountability
The state solves nothing because the crisis feeds the political economy of corruption.
III. A Decree That Contradicts 43 Years of “Emergence” Propaganda
The government promotes this new loan as “proof of progress.”
But if the CPDM’s 43-year rule truly advanced development:
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Would Cameroon still need foreign money for drinking water?
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Would billions still be borrowed every year for basic services?
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Would the population still rely on streams, wells, and plastic buckets?
Cameroon has oil, minerals, timber, fertile land, and a young population yet keeps borrowing to survive.
This decree is not a sign of development.
It is a confession of failure.
IV. Corruption: The Pipeline Through Which Mega-Loans Disappear
Water megaprojects are among the easiest targets for elite corruption.
Why?
Because they involve:
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multiple phases
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foreign consultants
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complex procurement
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long timelines
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weak oversight
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and millions of dollars moving quietly
Billions can vanish without anyone being prosecuted and most Cameroonians will never know what the money was meant for.
The SEWASH project, like many before it, is structured in a way that ensures:
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the public sees little
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contractors and political networks see everything
In Cameroon, projects are announced loudly and quietly abandoned.
V. Debt as a Political Strategy of the CPDM Regime
Foreign loans serve a deeper political function:
1. Patronage
They allow the regime to reward loyal elites with contracts, consultancies, and subcontracts.
2. Legitimacy
They give the illusion that “development is coming,” calming frustrations without solving anything.
3. Donor Relationships
They keep the international system comfortable, avoiding pressure for real reforms.
4. Avoidance of Accountability
Loans make it unnecessary to reform domestic taxation, combat corruption, or restructure spending.
5. Regime Survival
By pumping billions into elite networks, the CPDM ensures its political machinery remains fed and loyal.
In short:
The regime does not borrow to build.
It borrows to survive.
Conclusion: A Country That Borrows Because It Cannot Govern
This €184.9 million loan is not just a financial act.
It is a mirror reflecting the true state of Cameroon:
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A water-rich nation that cannot provide clean water.
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A resource-rich country dependent on donors.
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A state that borrows because it cannot manage.
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A regime that survives through debt, not legitimacy.
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A population paying the price for a government that has lost its developmental capacity.
Until Cameroon experiences real political transformation not decrees, not loans, not slogans the country will remain trapped in this cycle of borrowing without building.
The tragedy is not the loan itself.
The tragedy is a political system where even water has become a foreign-funded luxury.
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