Cameroon: Public wage bill reaches around 3.1 billion USD per year

The Cameroonian government spends nearly 1,783 billion CFA francs (around 3.1 billion USD) on the payment of salaries and pensions of public servants, which amounts to 148.6 billion CFA francs (almost 260 million USD) per month. This budget allows for the remuneration of 306,159 active public servants and the payment of pensions to 160,285 retirees, totaling 466,444 people who depend each month on the Cameroonian state payroll.

This announcement was made by the Minister of Public Service and Administrative Reform (Minfopra), Joseph Lé, during his appearance before the deputies. These figures highlight the increasing burden of personnel costs on public finances. They are published in a sensitive budgetary context, as the government seeks to better control public workforce numbers and contain the growth of the wage bill, while maintaining certain essential recruitments.

A wage bill under pressure

This issue is all the more strategic as countries in the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) are subject to a strict community criterion: personnel expenses must not exceed 35% of tax revenues.

Cameroon remains under pressure on this indicator. The continuous increase in workforce, automatic promotions, career regularizations, and gradual payment of salary arrears weigh heavily on this balance.

To address these challenges, the government is focusing on modernizing human resources management. It is in this context that, since January 1, 2025, public servants’ careers are managed through the Logical Management and Payroll System (AIGLES).

This platform is presented as the central tool for securing and rationalizing public payroll. It aims to reduce errors, administrative delays, and inconsistencies in the payroll file.

According to Joseph Lé, more than 376,000 public servants have already had their promotions updated through AIGLES. Automation improves the traceability of career actions and consistency between administrative status and remuneration.

The goal is also to correct old dysfunctions. These include duplicates, payment anomalies, processing delays, and discrepancies between theoretical workforce and actual employees in service.

Targeted recruitments and budgetary balance

However, this reform is part of a delicate budget equation. The State aims to curb the growth of the wage bill while strengthening social and sovereign sectors facing high needs.

For the year 2026, the government plans for more than 12,000 recruitments, especially in health, education, scientific research, and penitentiary administration. A first wave of over 2,000 positions has already been launched.

The challenge is twofold: strengthen priority administrations without causing an uncontrolled increase in personnel expenses. AIGLES should also help anticipate retirements and better plan recruitments.

Ultimately, a better understanding of actual workforce and financial commitments should help the Cameroonian state secure payroll, improve budget governance, and more sustainably meet community criteria.