These financial contributions allow the Cameroonian government to implement projects in areas as varied as infrastructure and agriculture. From this point of view, one of the main beneficiaries of IDB financial assistance in Cameroon is the Société de développement du coton (Sodecoton), the agro-industrial behemoth of the country’s three northern regions.

Indeed, each year, this mixed capital company benefits from financing from the IDB Group for the purchase of inputs and seed cotton from producers. Initially set at 13 billion CFA francs per year, IDB funding for Sodecoton was increased during the 2017-2018 cotton season, after bitter discussions between the Cameroonian authorities and this donor.

Finally raised to nearly 65 billion CFA francs since that campaign, this funding allows Sodecoton to guarantee the payment to date of the 250,000 producers supervised by the company. Above all, it protects this agro-industrial unit from the sometimes prohibitive interest rates of bank loans on the local market. Indeed, before the substantial increase in financial support from the IDB, Sodecoton regularly turned to credit institutions to meet its cash flow needs during the various seasons.