Cameroon spent 48.4 billion FCFA on compensating chairpersons of boards (PCA), general managers (DG), and deputy general managers (DGA) of public enterprises and institutions between 2020 and 2024, according to a recent study by Professor Viviane Ondoua Biwolé .
The study, titled “Combien l’État mobilise-t-il pour la rémunération des dirigeants des entités publiques ? (How much public funding is allocated to executive pay in public entities?),” covers a total of 37 public enterprises and 75 public institutions.
Among the top earners were executives at Cameroon Telecommunications (Camtel) and the Cotton Development Corporation (Sodecoton). For instance, during the review period, the General Manager of Cameroon Telecommunications (Camtel) received more than 885 million FCFA in salary, the Board Chair 195 million, and the Deputy General Manager over 692 million. Over four years, Camtel’s executives received a total of 1.1 billion FCFA.
The next top earners were executives of the National Hydrocarbons Corporation (SNH), the National Refining Company (Sonara), and the Port Authority of Douala (PAD), where the combined salaries of the three executives exceeded one billion over four years.
The study also criticized the state for “wasting money” by paying the salaries of underperforming leaders. It estimated that these leaders have caused the state an overall loss of approximately 195 billion FCFA between 2020 and 2024.
