(Business in Cameroon) – The African Development Bank (AfDB) approved on November 1, 2025, during a Board meeting in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, a €25 million trade finance facility, equal to CFA16.3 billion, for Crédit Communautaire d’Afrique-Bank (CCA Bank). The funding is meant to help the Cameroonian bank expand its trade finance offer for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
“The facility will support Cameroon’s economy by facilitating imports of equipment for the industrial, agro-industrial and telecommunications sectors. It will also enable the African Development Bank to provide up to a 100 percent guarantee to confirming banks, to facilitate the confirmation of letters of credit and other similar trade finance instruments issued by CCA-Bank for the benefit of SMEs in Cameroon,” said Lamin Drammeh, head of the trade finance division at the AfDB.
In practice, beyond helping develop the national industrial base by financing SME equipment purchases, this support from the AfDB enables CCA Bank to cover non-payment risk tied to beneficiary companies’ trade transactions. The goal is to secure foreign trade operations and encourage confirming banks to further back SME-led projects in Cameroon.
“The Transaction Guarantee is a trade finance instrument put in place by the African Development Bank to support commercial banks in Africa. It was launched in 2021 and covers a variety of trade finance instruments, including confirmed letters of credit, commercial loans, irrevocable repayment undertakings, endorsed drafts and promissory notes, among others. The facility is available to all banks registered and operating in Africa that have passed the African Development Bank’s due diligence process,” the pan-African financial institution said.
A bank in full expansion
The AfDB facility for CCA Bank offers vital support to SMEs, long considered underserved by banks in Cameroon and across Africa. It is also expected to strengthen the footprint of the Cameroonian bank in financing the productive sector, at a time when it plans to expand its activities beyond Cameroon.
Founded in 1997 in Bafoussam, CCA Bank began operations in 1998 as a cooperative savings and credit institution. It obtained a category-two microfinance license in July 2001, then gradually evolved to become a universal bank in May 2018, after receiving approval from local and regional monetary authorities.
Now a key player in the local financial system, CCA Bank ranks eighth out of 19 active banks in Cameroon for outstanding loans, with a 6.17 % market share. It is fourth for deposits, with an 8.05 % market share as of March 31, 2025. As of December 31, 2024, the bank’s total assets stood at CFA837 billion, net banking income reached CFA53.6 billion, and net profit was CFA19.1 billion, up 46.7 % from 2023.
Brice R. Mbodiam
