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13, November 2024
Bank loans in Cameroon hit record CFA5,607 bn in H1 2024, up 3.75% 0
Bank lending in Cameroon reached a record CFA5,607 billion between December 2023 and June 2024, representing a 3.75% increase compared to the previous six months. This data comes from the regulatory reports of the Collection, Processing, and Feedback System for Banks and Financial Institutions (Cerber), established by the Bank of Central African States (BEAC) and Cameroon’s National Economic and Financial Committee (CNEF).
Afriland First Bank (AFB), owned by Cameroonian billionaire Paul Fokam Kammogne, led the market with CFA1,280.5 billion in loans over the period. Right behind AFB was Société Générale Cameroun (SGC), a subsidiary of the French Société Générale group, which issued CFA771.3 billion in credit.
Banque Atlantique Cameroun (BAC), a branch of the Ivorian Atlantic Financial Group (AFG), took the third position, issuing CFA538.2 billion in loans. Société Commerciale de Banque (SCB) Cameroun, owned by Morocco’s Attijariwafa group, followed with CFA521.4 billion, while Commercial Bank Cameroun (CBC) completed the top five with CFA489.9 billion in loans.
Other notable players included Bicec, a part of Morocco’s Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP), which loaned out CFA455 billion; BGFI, owned by Gabon’s BGFI Group, at CFA441 billion; CCA Bank, a local Cameroonian institution, with CFA308 billion; UBA, the Nigerian UBA Group’s subsidiary, providing CFA265 billion; and Ecobank, a pan-African group, lending CFA167 billion.
The remaining eight banks—Citibank, NFC-Bank, Standard Bank, Bange Bank, La Régionale Bank, UBC, BC-PME, and Access Bank—collectively issued over CFA370 billion in loans.
The credit market grew by 3.75% in the first half of the year, with AFB leading the growth at 3.14%, as the only bank to lend over CFA1,000 billion. Newer players in the market, like Equatorial Guinea’s Bange Bank and Nigeria’s Access Bank, posted the highest growth rates of 73.28% and 26.43%, respectively. Financial expert Danny Dior Ngongang noted, “It’s expected for these banks to grow rapidly, as they are working to establish themselves and catch up.”
Source: Business in Cameroon