Jacques Bougha-Hagbe

Jacques Bougha-Hagbe is a Cameroonian economist, engineer, and politician known for his technocratic approach to governance and his advocacy for deep economic and institutional reforms in Cameroon ^[1] . He was born on 30 November 1974 in the litoral region of Cameroon Douala. He holds a degree as an engineer from École Centrale Paris (France). After more than two decades working with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), where he specialized in fiscal policy, monetary systems, and public finance, he entered national politics as the presidential candidate of the Mouvement Citoyen National Camerounais (MCNC) in the 2025 election. ^[2] .He also has a master's degree in economics from McGill University, Canada and he has earned a Ph.D. in economics from Cornell University (USA). ^[3] A graduate of École Centrale Paris, McGill University, and Cornell University, Bougha Hagbe promotes a bold reform agenda that includes monetary sovereignty, large-scale infrastructure development, and a decentralized state structure. He identifies as a panafricanist and envisions a new economic model for Cameroon rooted in innovation, sovereignty, and data-driven governance. Following the 2025 election, he resigned from the MCNC over disagreements on the party’s approach to challenging electoral outcomes.

Career

Economist

Bougha-Hagbe worked for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for about 22 years and his work at the IMF covered issues like fiscal and monetary policy, public finance, and structural economic challenges in developing countries. ^[4] He has also done research and analysis on remittances (money sent by migrant workers), and contributed to IMF work on how remittances affect economies. ^[5]

Politics

He was a candidate in the 2025 Cameroonian presidential election, ≠running under the banner of the Mouvement Citoyen National Camerounais (MCNC). His platform for that election is very ambitious: he proposes major economic and institutional reforms like;

• Exit from the CFA franc, creation of a national currency (which he calls the "krou"), and establishment of a new central bank for "Kamerun."
• Structural transformation of state-owned enterprises into "entreprises populaires" (people's companies).
• Massive infrastructure investments: for example, he proposes building 58 airports (one per department) in Cameroon.
• He calls for stronger local governance and a less centralized political system.
• He proposes to abolish (or deeply reform) certain institutions, such as the Senate and the Council économique et social, if elected. ^[6]

On 17 July 2025, he officially submitted his candidacy at ELECAM (Cameroon's electoral commission). After the 2025 presidential election, Bougha-Hagbe resigned (quit) his party, the MCNC, citing "major disagreements" over how to conduct the fight for change legally and democratically and he criticized the MCNC's approach to contesting the election results, saying the party did not follow legal procedures in challenging irregularities. ^[7]

References

1. Cameroon-Tribune. "Jacques Bouhga-Hagbe: un économiste pour relancer la machine."
2. "Cameroun: Présidentielle 2025 – les 13 candidats retenus."
3. Sarr, Mamadou (September 19, 2025). "Bougha Hagbe Jacques, candidat du Mouvement citoyen national camerounais (MCNC)".
4. Jacques, Toto (June 1, 2025). "Actualités CAMEROUN :: Jacques Bouhga-Hagbe Candidat : Réformes Économiques pour le Cameroun 2025 :: CAMEROON News". camer.be.
5. "Bulletin du FMI -- 2 août 2004" (PDF).
6. "Jacques Bougha-Hagbe, Économiste du FMI pour 2025". August 24, 2025.
7. "Jacques Bougha Hagbe Quitte MCNC Pour Désaccords". November 10, 2025.