China Eximbank reschedules 18 loans worth CFA 148 billion previously contracted by Government of Cameroon (Linked to Project ID#59059)

In July 2019, China Eximbank and the Government of Cameroon signed a debt rescheduling agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, China Eximbank agreed to reschedule 18 loans previously contracted by the Government of Cameroon — with scheduled principal repayments between July 2019 and March 2022 — by allowing the borrower to defer scheduled principal repayments between July 2019 and March 2022 to later dates but without any maturity extensions. The total amount of restructured debt was equivalent CFA 148 billion ($253 million) — or 70% of the loan principal that was scheduled for repayment between July 2019 and March 2022. Under the terms of the agreement, the Government of Cameroon agreed to repay 30% of the loan principal according to the original July 2019-March 2022 schedule (i.e. without any payment deferrals). The lender and the borrower also agreed to cancel the committed but undisbursed loan balances worth approximately CFA 10 billion (for certain loans with disbursement deadlines that had already passed).

Additional details

1. Several sources refer to the July 2019 debt rescheduling agreement as a reprofiling agreement. 2. In French, the term ‘SEND’s’ is used to describe committed but undisbursed loan balances. 3. This restructuring was part of a larger effort by the Cameroonian Government to seek debt restructuring and forgiveness from its Chinese creditors (see Project ID#59059).

Number of official sources

4

Number of total sources

14