Sodecoton’s New Oil Mill Could Become BEAC’s Next Big Refinancing Project

The Bank of Central African States (BEAC), the central bank serving the six-member CEMAC bloc, could help finance a new oil-processing plant planned by Cameroon’s cotton company, Sodecoton, in Ngaoundéré, the capital of the Adamawa region.

According to sources within Sodecoton, the agro-industrial company has approached Afriland First Bank to help finance the project. Afriland has in turn requested support from the BEAC through its Special Refinancing Window, formerly known as Window B, a facility dedicated to refinancing medium-term loans used for productive investments. Under the facility’s operating rules, BEAC financing cannot exceed 60% of a project’s total cost. If approved, the central bank could therefore provide up to CFA12 billion through Afriland and other lenders participating in the financing consortium. The planned oil mill carries an estimated price tag of CFA20 billion.

A Little-Known Financing Tool Gains Visibility

Although the refinancing window has existed since the 1990s, it remained largely unknown within the banking sector until recently.

“In June 2025, we brought together all banks in Bangui and presented Window B, which is intended to finance productive projects. The findings were disappointing: banks were largely unaware that this instrument even existed,” BEAC Governor Yvon Sana Bangui said on September 29, 2025, during a press conference in Yaoundé following the central bank’s third Monetary Policy Committee meeting of the year.

According to the governor, only two banks in Cameroon had used the facility to finance projects over the previous three years. Since that awareness campaign, however, interest in the refinancing mechanism has grown steadily among Cameroonian lenders.

In 2025 alone, the BEAC approved refinancing for CFA41.2 billion in bank loans tied to the development of the Bipindi-Grand Zambi iron ore project. The central bank also authorized refinancing for CFA31.3 billion in loans supporting telecom operator Camtel’s investment program. That same year, CCA Bank received approval to raise CFA30 billion from the central bank to participate in financing a mining project in the Republic of Congo.

A Tool for Strategic Investments

The BEAC is also exploring the possibility of supporting the rehabilitation of Cameroon’s National Refining Company (Sonara), whose facilities were severely damaged by a fire in 2019. “In Sonara’s case, we took the initiative ourselves and approached the authorities to present this instrument as a potential source of support for the refinery’s rehabilitation,” the governor said.

If approved, the Sodecoton project would become the latest example of the BEAC using its refinancing facility to support large-scale productive investments. For the central bank, the mechanism has become an increasingly important tool for channeling financing toward industrial projects considered strategic for economic development across the CEMAC region.

Brice R. Mbodiam