• President Touadéra invites UBA to open a branch to support local SMEs and startups
• UBA would become the 5th CEMAC presence and the 21st in Africa if the plan moves ahead
• The country’s banking sector remains small, with just four active banks

President Faustin-Archange Touadéra of the Central African Republic has expressed interest in seeing United Bank for Africa (UBA) establish a local branch, aiming to improve banking access for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The proposal was made during a recent meeting with UBA Group Chairman Tony Elumelu, held on the sidelines of the 2025 African Caucus in Bangui. The event gathered finance ministers and central bank governors from all 54 African countries.

If the plan moves forward, the Central African Republic would become the 21st African country where UBA operates. The new subsidiary would join the bank’s existing presence in four other Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) countries: Cameroon, Chad, Republic of the Congo, and Gabon.

The main objective behind bringing UBA to the country is to improve financing access for SMEs and young project leaders. According to national authorities, SMEs account for 80% of local employment.

A Limited Banking Sector in the Central African Republic

Currently, only four banks are active in the Central African Republic: Banque Populaire Maroco-centrafricaine (BPMC), Banque Saharienne pour l’Investissement et le Commerce (BSIC), BGFI Bank, and Ecobank. The country’s credit market showed signs of improvement in the third quarter of 2024. Banks issued 6,454 new loans during that period, compared to 5,103 a year earlier—an increase of 26.47%, according to the BEAC’s report on lending rate trends in the CEMAC region.

BGFI Bank leads the market, providing 45.99% of all loans, followed by Ecobank (24.04%) and BSIC (19.71%). Business clients received 75.98% of the total credit volume—CFA19.8 billion, up from CFA17.9 billion in Q3 2023. Loans to SMEs reached CFA3.6 billion, accounting for 13.90% of total lending, up from CFA3.1 billion the year before.

Expanding Cooperation Through Entrepreneurship

During their meeting, Tony Elumelu and President Touadéra also discussed the role of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, which supports young African entrepreneurs with business training and funding for viable projects.

Since its inception, the foundation has backed more than 24,000 young entrepreneurs across Africa, including 23 in the Central African Republic. A local UBA branch could strengthen these programs in a country where young people often face limited access to formal financing.