• Cameroon microfinance institutions earned CFA5.24 billion in net profit in 2024.
• Net profit rose 54.5% year on year, according to Cobac.
• Cameroon hosts nearly 74% of all licensed microfinance firms in CEMAC.

Microfinance institutions operating in Cameroon posted a combined net profit of CFA5.24 billion in 2024, equivalent to about $9.4 million, according to data from the Central African Banking Commission (Cobac), the banking regulator for the CEMAC region, which includes Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Chad, and the Central African Republic.

The result marked a 54.5% increase compared with the combined net profit of CFA3.38 billion recorded in 2023. Cameroon’s microfinance institutions delivered the second-best performance in CEMAC on this indicator, behind their Congolese peers. In Congo, microfinance institutions reported a combined net profit of CFA13.2 billion in 2024, up 32% year on year.

Cameroon leads CEMAC microfinance network

Cameroon has the largest microfinance network in CEMAC. Of the 521 licensed microfinance institutions in the region in 2024, 384 were based in Cameroon, accounting for 73.7% of the total. The expansion of these financial institutions has helped improve access to financing, especially for small businesses and in rural areas where banks are absent or have limited presence.

Despite the sector’s growth, Cameroon’s microfinance industry faces several structural challenges. In recent years, liquidations and decisions to place some institutions under provisional administration have raised concerns among customers about deposit security and the continuity of credit services. Sector experts have sought to reassure clients, linking the increase in sanctions to a stronger regulatory framework introduced by Cobac following the 2015 reform, which expanded supervision beyond prudential ratios alone.

Tighter regulation since 2015

The 2015 reform introduced stricter oversight standards for microfinance institutions, including enhanced operational controls, compliance requirements, risk management, and internal audits. After a transition period that ran until 2020, Cobac stepped up inspections from 2021, leading to the closure or temporary takeover of institutions deemed non-compliant in Cameroon and across CEMAC.

The tougher stance reflects public authorities’ determination to clean up a sector that has become strategic for financing the sub-regional economy.

BRM (Business in Cameroon)