Central Africa has switched on its first regional Credit Information Bureau (CIB), a milestone designed to reshape how banks and microfinance institutions price risk and extend loans across the six CEMAC economies. The platform operated by Creditinfo Central Africa (CICA) was unveiled in Douala on 20 January 2026 under the auspices of Cameroon’s Ministry of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, alongside the Governor of the Bank of Central African States (BEAC) and senior financial-sector stakeholders. Built in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Creditinfo Group, the bureau consolidates credit data that has historically been fragmented or unavailable, a constraint that has long hampered lending decisions and slowed loan approvals across the region.
The launch follows BEAC’s formal authorisation of CICA under Decision No. 142 dated 25 November 2025, making it the first credit bureau licensed to operate across the entire CEMAC zone. The regulatory framework provides for consumer consent, confidentiality and data protection, and sets out obligations for supervised institutions to share credit information. By standardising and centralising borrower histories from banks, microfinance institutions, and other regulated lenders, the bureau equips credit providers with a common, timely reference point for assessing solvency and repayment behavior. For lenders, the outcome should be faster, better-informed credit decisions, for borrowers, a more straightforward path to formal finance and more transparent pricing.
BEAC Governor Yvon Sana Bangui framed the bureau as a direct response to persistent asset-quality stress in the sub-region. Non-performing loans remain elevated at around the mid-teens as a share of gross loans, representing roughly CFAF 2 trillion in impaired credit, according to recent data. By reducing information asymmetries, the bureau is expected to support more accurate risk-based pricing and strengthen portfolio quality over time. During a high-level panel at the Douala event, IFC Vice President for Africa Ethiopis Tafara underlined that robust credit information systems correlate with broader access to finance and more resilient banking systems, noting that lower uncertainty typically compresses risk premia and widens the set of viable borrowers without compromising prudential standards.
For policymakers, the development addresses a structural gap that has raised the cost of capital in Central Africa relative to peer regions. Commercial lenders across the zone have long cited limited data on borrower behaviour and weak market visibility as barriers to rapid, competitive loan underwriting. Association of Commercial Banks in Cameroon President Gwendoline Abunaw pointed to the practical benefits for day-to-day credit operations, highlighting the prospect of quicker turnaround times and more consistent credit adjudication as institutions gain shared visibility into a borrower’s obligations and payment track record. Over time, authorities and development partners expect tangible gains in financial inclusion as thin-file clients—SMEs, households, women, young founders and rural borrowers—build credit histories that travel with them across institutions and borders.
Governance and standards will be central to the bureau’s credibility. BEAC has aligned the framework with international good practices, including explicit consent for data sharing, rules on accuracy and timely updates, and mechanisms for consumers to dispute and correct their files. Mandatory data submission by supervised institutions is envisaged to ensure broad coverage, while usage policies are being sequenced so that lenders consult bureau reports as part of their underwriting processes. The first bilateral service agreements in Cameroon are scheduled for February 2026, with a phased ramp-up to other CEMAC markets as technical integrations and user acceptance testing are completed.
To anchor expectations, authorities are linking the bureau’s success to measurable outcomes. Priority metrics include the share of credit institutions connected, the proportion of new loan applications supported by bureau inquiries, trends in underwriting turnaround times and approval rates, and subsequent movements in non-performing loan ratios. An early focus will be data quality: comprehensive reporting of both positive and negative information, timely corrections of inaccuracies, and robust cybersecurity and audit trails. These safeguards matter for inclusion as much as for prudence, because the benefits of information-rich lending depend on trust in the integrity of the files.
Regional experience suggests the prize is significant. In markets that introduced credit bureaus earlier, lenders report more granular differentiation between high- and low-risk borrowers, narrower risk spreads for good performers and more targeted use of collateral, especially for small businesses. The CEMAC initiative seeks similar outcomes but adapts them to local realities, including a banking sector with heterogeneous balance-sheet structures and a large microfinance footprint. Authorities are also positioning the bureau to support wider economic integration by enabling cross-border visibility of borrower behaviour within the monetary union, an efficiency gain for banks and a mobility benefit for clients.
The Douala launch marks a decisive step in modernising Central Africa’s financial infrastructure. It couples a clear regulatory mandate with a private operator experienced in running credit bureaus across diverse environments, and a development partner focused on inclusion and resilience. If institutions connect on schedule, data quality holds to standard and usage becomes embedded in underwriting, the bureau should help lower uncertainty, compress risk premia and expand access to finance where it is most needed. For households and enterprises across the CEMAC zone, that would translate into a more predictable path to affordable credit and, over time, a sturdier foundation for growth.
Mercy Fosoh
