(Business in Cameroon) – In 2024, total leasing income earned by banks and financial institutions in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (Cemac)—Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Chad, and the Central African Republic—fell 47.6% year-on-year. According to the 2024 report from the Central African Banking Commission (Cobac), the decline was driven largely by Cameroon.
Cobac notes: “The margin on leasing operations (1% of net banking income) stands at CFA10.2 billion, down CFA9.2 billion (-47.6%) compared with the same period last year. This drop is mainly observed among Cameroonian banks (-CFA12.9 billion, or -73.6%).” In other words, leasing operators in Cameroon generated only CFA4.6 billion in margins in 2024, compared with CFA17.5 billion in 2023.
The sharp decline reflects a significant slowdown in leasing activity in the country. Leasing allows companies to finance production equipment, with the equipment itself generating the income used to repay the financing through scheduled installments plus interest.
A market with significant untapped potential
Despite the downturn, specialists believe the leasing market remains largely underdeveloped in Cameroon. The Cameroon Association of Leasing (Camlease) estimates market potential at CFA400 billion. In practice, actual volumes reached CFA125 billion in 2016, up from CFA45 billion in 2009, according to the National Institute of Statistics.
Between 2018 and 2021, the market totaled CFA134 billion, according to Afriland First Bank, one of the pioneers of leasing in Cameroon through its former subsidiary Africa Leasing Company, absorbed in 2017. These figures show real progress, but still far below the potential outlined by sector professionals.
BRM
