Chinese overseas lending / CMR
Cameroon: debt owed to China
In 2021, Cameroon is estimated to have owed China $4.82bn, equal to 10.7% of its GDP, which ranks it 28 of 126 borrowers in the panel by dollars owed. The estimated stock peaked at $5.49bn in 2018.
The estimated stock, 2000 to 2021
The largest single-year move in the estimated stock is 2017, when it rose by $1.30bn.
Source: Horn, Reinhart and Trebesch, China’s Overseas Lending. Selection: estimated stock owed to China by Cameroon, by year and instrument, 2000 to 2021. Zeros are estimated zeros (no known loans outstanding), not missing values. Methodology
Against what Cameroon reports owing to all creditors
Cameroon reported $15.38bn of total external debt to all creditors in 2021, of which $12.38bn is public and publicly guaranteed. The China estimate is 31.3% of the reported external total and 34.8% of the reported public and guaranteed stock. These are ratios of two different measurements, one estimated and one borrower-reported, and they are not a share of a single consistent total.
| Measure, 2021 | Estimated, owed China | Reported, all creditors | Ratio, % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total external debt | $4.82bn | $15.38bn | 31.3% |
| Public and publicly guaranteed | $4.31bn | $12.38bn | 34.8% |
Source: Horn, Reinhart and Trebesch, China’s Overseas Lending (estimated stocks), and World Bank International Debt Statistics, borrower-reported via the Debtor Reporting System (all-creditor stocks). Selection: estimated external and PPG stock owed to China in 2021 against Cameroon's reported DT.DOD.DECT.CD and DT.DOD.DPPG.CD for the same year. Drawn swap balances are excluded from the estimated column: they are a central-bank liability the Debtor Reporting System's long-term-debt concepts do not carry. Methodology
Chinese restructurings involving Cameroon
1 deal recorded between Cameroon and Chinese state creditors. These are context, not accounting: the source records face-value reduction as a flag rather than a magnitude, so no haircut percentage exists for them, and nothing here is netted off the estimated stock above.
Creditor: China Ex-Im Bank
Rescheduling of Cameroon's debt to China: Two thirds of the debt service due between 2019 and 2022 (US$ 253 million) are rescheduled to be paid in after 2022 and within the existing maturity.
Acker et al. (2020), Bon & Cheng (2021)
Source: Horn, Reinhart and Trebesch, Hidden Defaults (World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 9925). Selection: every recorded restructuring agreement between Cameroon and a Chinese state creditor. Face-value reduction is a 0/1 flag in the source, not a percentage; the badge appears only where the source sets it. Methodology