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Business in Cameroon | CEMAC faces a major setback as oil and mining companies refuse to repatriate CFA6,000 billion earmarked for site rehabilitation, despite a deadline that expired on April 30, 2025. The Bank of Central African States (BEAC) and governments in Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Chad, and the Central African Republic have failed to enforce the rule, which has been in place since March 1, 2019.
Oil producers continue to resist the new foreign exchange regulations. The rules require them to return funds to the region, but companies want to keep the money abroad. Speaking at a press conference BEAC Governor Yvon Sana Bangui revealed the stalemate at a June 30 press conference in Yaoundé. “The CEMAC Heads of State supported us in setting a firm date, April 30, 2025, for the entire extractive sector to be required to repatriate [rehabilitation funds]. But, you have certainly followed the oil companies’ demand that the central bank relinquish its sovereignty, which could, for example, allow the seizure of BEAC’s accounts.”
Bangui explained that after the deadline passed, BEAC met again with oil companies. “They now agree not to challenge the central bank’s immunity but propose that the funds not be repatriated, but rather domiciled in an account abroad. We have reached this point, which should be discussed at the community level before further talks with the oil companies,” he said.
This standoff puts CEMAC’s foreign reserves at risk. The region relies on these funds to pay for imports and maintain external stability. The IMF warns that CEMAC’s import coverage could fall to 4.5 months by year-end, below the safe threshold of five months.
The IMF Under Increasing Stress
The stakes are high. If CEMAC secures the funds, reserves could double from the projected CFA7,063.2 billion at the end of 2025. This would strengthen the region’s external position and ease fears of a CFA franc devaluation.
Oil companies’ resistance has drawn international attention. A bill in the U.S. Congress, the “CEMAC Act,” proposes suspending U.S. support for IMF financing to CEMAC countries until a full review of their reserves. The bill specifically targets rehabilitation funds held by international oil firms.
CEMAC has already lost ground to extractive companies. The new foreign exchange rules took effect in 2019 for all firms but only became enforceable for mining companies in 2022, after years of negotiations and major concessions from BEAC.
A Framework Adapted to Industry Demands
BEAC has tailored regulations to fit the industry. Former governor Abbas Mahamat Tolli said, “During over a hundred meetings held between 2018 and 2021, extractive companies had the opportunity to present to BEAC the specificities of their activities, their constraints, and other factors that the foreign exchange regulations had not considered. Subsequently, the central bank studied a set of measures compatible with their economic models to ensure effective application of the foreign exchange regulations without disrupting the industry.”
Oil and mining companies enjoy relaxed rules. They can hold foreign currency accounts both inside and outside CEMAC. Companies in exploration or with Reserve-Based Lending (RBL) financing do not have to repatriate foreign currency. BEAC has also allowed companies to transfer expatriate workers’ income abroad and pay local subcontractors in foreign currency.
A financial insider says BEAC’s concessions undermine the original goal of the 2019 regulations. “BEAC is ultimately applying something entirely different to oil and mining companies, not the foreign exchange regulations that came into force on March 1, 2019,” the source said.
