Stakeholders, Sustainable Finance and Governance in the Classical Faculties of the University of Yaoundé 1 (Cameroon)

This scientific reflection questions the low sustainability of financial governance practices within the faculty institutions of the University of Yaoundé 1. The global challenges of university governance call for more virtuous management practices. This is why, in 2017, the Conference of Ministers of Education of the States and Governments of La Francophonie recommended not only the integration of sustainable financing principles into sectoral and sub-sectoral budgetary guidelines for education, but also a transformation of financial management practices in educational institutions. Today, the reality of university governance in Cameroon is quite different. Indeed, the report on medium-term expenditure planning (2020-2022) reveals that Cameroon is struggling to integrate sustainable finance practices into sectoral education governance, particularly in public higher education institutions. So why is it that state university faculties do not integrate the principles of sustainable finance into their day-to-day financial management? Taking the University of Yaoundé 1 as a case study, the methodological approach is hypothetical-deductive. The analysis combines qualitative and quantitative methods. The field survey targeted managers at three levels of intervention in the financial governance chain: institution directors and/or their deputies (N=03), department heads (N=20) and teaching and non-teaching staff (N=85). The results reveal a real lack of understanding of the principles of sustainable finance in the financial governance chain. This lack of knowledge is accompanied by insufficient consideration of extra-financial criteria, such as stakeholders and social issues, in the day-to-day financial management of the faculties of the University of Yaoundé 1.