CAMEROON NATIONAL
SHIPPERS' COUNCIL

For the first three months of 2022, 21.7 % of loans granted by banks in the Cemac zone (Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Chad, CAR and Equatorial Guinea) went to SMEs. This statistic is revealed by the Bank of Central African States (Beac).

 

"Same as in the fourth quarter of 2021, loans granted in the first quarter of 2022, per type of beneficiary, were mainly for big companies and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which respectively received 59.78% and 21.70% of these loans, representing a volume of 1,094.42 and 397.27 billion CFA francs," reveals the report by the central bank on the evolution of lending rates charged by credit institutions in the CEMAC states.

 

This upturn in bank financing for SMEs in the first quarter of 2022 thus reached its peak (21.7%) within the last two years. Indeed, after the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, which further reduced the chances for SMEs to be considered for loans, as revealed by several official statements, the year 2021 was marked by an increased trust for big companies and individuals. This was at the expense of SMEs.

 

In fact, according to Beac data, in the first half of 2021, for example, individuals got away with 17.82% of bank loans in the CEMAC region, compared with 17.17% for SMEs, with the rest going to large companies. In the second half of 2021, 16.2% of bank loans will go to individuals, i.e. 0.7 percentage points more than to SMEs (15.5%). In relation to the envelope granted to individuals (11.72%), SMEs have received almost twice as much credit at the end of March 2022.

 

This increase in SME financing by banks seems to be the result of the rush of international financial institutions and banks to the bedside of this business category, following the ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic. In Cameroon, for example, between the end of 2020 and throughout 2021, local banks, thanks to the support of international financial institutions, have opened credit lines specifically dedicated to SMEs hit hard by the pandemic. Concurrently, guarantee funds have helped set up guarantees to facilitate the distribution of these credits.

 

Source: Business in Cameroon

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