(Business in Cameroon) – The portfolio of the Cameroon SME Bank (BC-PME) now includes nearly 4,000 companies, Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises Achille Bassilekin III told Défis actuels. Since its creation more than 10 years ago, the bank has granted about CFA75 billion in loans, he said.
Although modest compared with the role SMEs play in the local economy, BC-PME has become a key financing channel for businesses that traditionally face difficulties accessing credit.
SMEs represent over 80% of Cameroon’s industrial fabric but remain underfunded compared with large enterprises. According to data from the Bank of Central African States (BEAC), in the third quarter of 2024, large firms received three times more bank credit than SMEs.
BEAC reported that large enterprises took 67.8% of total loans in Q3 2024, or CFA1,139.6 billion, up from CFA943.2 billion a year earlier. In comparison, SMEs received 21.31%, equivalent to CFA358.2 billion, versus CFA273 billion in the same period of 2023.
