Retail Investors Hold 3.3% of CEMAC Debt
Individual investors held CFA366.2 billion in regional government securities at the end of September 2026, according to central bank data published November 2.
Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Investing
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Retail investors held CFA366.2 billion, or 3.3%, of government securities in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) at the end of September 2026. The Bank of Central African States published the figures in its monthly Treasury securities statistics on Monday, November 2.
Why it matters
The data shows how much of the region's public debt is held by individual rather than institutional buyers, a measure of how broadly government borrowing reaches ordinary savers. Retail participation remains a small share of the outstanding stock, with primary dealers holding most of it.
Treasury bonds made up CFA300 billion of retail holdings and Treasury bills CFA66.2 billion, held by 2,773 individual investors at the end of September 2026. Chad recorded the highest retail share of its national debt at 7.65%, while the Republic of Congo held the largest absolute amount at CFA145.63 billion.
The players
Bank of Central African States
The Bank of Central African States is the central bank serving the six member countries of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community, and it issues the monthly Treasury securities statistics cited here.
The details
Cameroon-based investors held 50.3% of the regional outstanding government securities stock. Gabon recorded CFA67.39 billion in retail holdings, equal to 1.84% of its market, and the Central African Republic and Equatorial Guinea also reported their own retail figures.
Timeline
End of September 2026: retail holdings measured against the outstanding securities stock.
Monday, November 2, 2026: Bank of Central African States publishes monthly Treasury securities statistics.
Market Dynamics
The figures come from the Bank of Central African States' monthly Treasury securities series, which tracks how regional government debt is split between primary dealers, national investors and retail buyers. Retail participation of 3.3% sits well below the primary dealer share of 62.8%, showing that bank-led placement still dominates the regional market.
For individual savers in the region, the figures show that buying government bonds and bills directly remains uncommon, with most debt placed through primary dealers. Anyone considering Treasury securities should check how they can be bought and held in their own country's market before committing savings.
The takeaway
Retail holdings are small in every country measured, so the government debt market still runs mainly through institutions. Savers interested in this asset class should track monthly releases to see whether individual participation grows over time.
Further reading
Explore more on Investing for context on how retail buyers approach government bonds.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Ecofin Agency.
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