Cameroon’s Short-Term Treasury Bills Lose Appeal Among Banks as Rivals Offer Higher Rates

Banks showed less interest in Cameroon’s short-term government debt in July 2026, with participation in Treasury bill auctions falling below 20% as competing CEMAC issuers offered higher interest rates and demand weakened across the regional government securities market.

Primary dealers (SVTs) recorded an 18.98% participation rate in Cameroon’s fungible Treasury bill (BTA) issuances, according to data from the Bank of Central African States (BEAC), the central bank for Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Chad and the Central African Republic. The figure was below the market-wide average of 20.1%.

Compared with the same month in previous years, July’s figure was Cameroon’s lowest since at least 2023. Primary-dealer participation stood at 23.8% in July 2023, increased to 26.3% in July 2024 and reached 23.3% in July 2025, according to BEAC data.

The decline left Cameroon with the second-lowest participation rate for Treasury bill issuances in CEMAC, ahead only of Gabon at 16.2%. This was despite Cameroon having the region’s largest network of approved primary dealers, with 22 institutions.

Other issuers attracted stronger participation. Equatorial Guinea recorded a rate of 41.6% in July, followed by the Central African Republic at 25% and Congo at 23.3%.

BEAC did not provide a specific explanation for the decline in demand for Cameroon’s Treasury bills. One factor may be the higher interest rates available on competing sovereign debt in the regional market. In July, Equatorial Guinea and Congo offered rates of 7.87% and 7.24%, respectively, compared with 6.97% for Cameroon.

The decline in Cameroon nevertheless forms part of a broader regional trend. Across the CEMAC government securities market, the average primary-dealer participation rate fell to 20.1% in July 2026, compared with 26.3% in July 2023, 24.8% in July 2024 and 21.7% in July 2025.

BEAC said the decline was also visible in fungible Treasury bond (OTA) issuances. Experts cited in the report attribute the broader weakening in primary-dealer participation in CEMAC government securities operations to increasingly saturated securities portfolios at banks acting as market intermediaries.

BRM