In the 2000s, several states launched ambitious programs to reform their budgetary procedures. They implemented a full accrual budgeting procedure, stipulating that the central government budget be established in a form inspired by companies’ annual accounts. The introduction of accounting standards that governed the practices of private companies at the level of public entities therefore led to the emergence of new management methods. In Cameroon, the reform began in 2007 with the adoption of Law No. 2007/006 of December 26, 2007, on the State’s Financial Regime.
These examples strongly influenced African states and the CEMAC countries in particular, which adopted on December 19, 20211 six new Directives of the Harmonized Public Finance Management Framework. These directives relate to finance laws, the general public accounting regulation, the chart of accounts, the budgetary nomenclature, the State Financial Operations Table (TOFE), and the directive on the code of transparency and good governance in public finance management.
The philosophical foundations of this reform at the CEMAC level include, among others, the existence of disparities between the financial legislations of member states, which hinder sub-regional integration, and the community’s willingness to reform through unanimous acceptance of the measures proposed within the framework of multilateral convergence.
For the adaptation and monitoring of these directives within Cameroon’s domestic legal framework, a sectoral action plan for the implementation of the reform was developed by the Interministerial Technical Committee for the Implementation and Monitoring of the Reform. This plan was broken down into strategic axes as follows: Strategic Axis No. 1 dedicated to improving the legal framework, Strategic Axis No. 2 focusing on the reliability and cleanup of public accounts, Strategic Axis No. 3 on preparing for the transition to patrimonial accounting, Strategic Axis No. 4 on modernizing state treasury management, Strategic Axis No. 5 concerning the modernization of internal control, audit, and improvement of accounting quality, Strategic Axis No. 6 on adapting the information system, Strategic Axis No. 7 on modernizing the accounting of materials and assets, Strategic Axis No. 8 which concerns the reliability and cleanup of accounts of other public entities, and Strategic Axis No. 9 on the steering and governance of the reform.
As part of the implementation of the aforementioned strategic axes, the following developments have been recorded in each annex. For the first axis, all CEMAC directives have been transposed by laws and decrees. These include Law No. 2018/011 of July 11, 2018, on the Code of Transparency and Good Governance in Public Finance Management in Cameroon, which transposes Directive No. 6, Law No. 2018/012 of July 11, 2018, on the Financial Regime of the State and Other Public Entities, which transposes Directive No. 1, Decree No. 2019/3186 of September 9, 2019, establishing the general framework for the presentation of the TOFE, which transposes Directive No. 5, Decree 2019/3187 of September 11, 2019, on the general framework for the presentation of the NBE, which transposes Directive No. 4, Decree 2019/3199 of September 11, 2019, on the general framework for the presentation of the PCE, which transposes Directive No. 3, and Decree No. 2020/375 of July 7, 2020, on the General Public Accounting Regulation.
For the others, several operational documents have been developed at the DGTCFM level, including the Collection of State Accounting Standards, the Instruction on General Accounting, the National Control Plan, the procedure manuals, etc. The achievements of these activities allowed the switch to patrimonial accounting on January 1, 2022, in accordance with Article 92 (2) of the Law on the Financial Regime of the State and other Public Entities.
Regarding the other strategic axes, several developments have been recorded:
The inventory of State tangible fixed assets in certain regions and their integration into the opening balance sheet;
The cleanup of State account balances;
The optimization of State treasury management through the signing of two important texts, respectively on the modalities for managing the treasury of the State and other public entities and the decree establishing the treasury and budgetary regulation committee,
The modernization of the internal control system in accounting departments through the drafting of an accounting internal control framework which integrates the mapping of State accounting processes, the mapping of accounting risks by process, and the risk automation system;
The optimization of the information system with the introduction of the PATRIMONY Web application;
Regarding the reform of the finances of other Public Entities, the legal framework at the CTD level is almost complete with the signing of the eight implementing texts;
The drafting of the Budgetary Nomenclature of PEs and the Chart of Accounts for PEs, the finalization of the draft instruction related to the preparation, l “elaboration, execution and control of the PE Budget, l” elaboration of the draft budgetary and accounting instruction.
Among the difficulties encountered in implementing this reform, the main one is l “insufficiency of financial resources, given that these activities require a lot of preliminary work for their implementation. The success of this large-scale project therefore requires the DGTCFM to mobilize” enormous resources, both financial, human, and material.