(Business in Cameroon) – Since January 1, 2025, the Bank of Central African Countries has made it easier for banks to open new bank branches within the community. A new regulation, in effect since the beginning of the year, allows banking groups already licensed in one of the Cemac countries to expand into others without having to apply for additional approvals.
“During its extraordinary session on December 20, 2024, in Libreville, the ministerial committee of the Central African Monetary Union (UMAC) adopted a regulation on the single banking license in the CEMAC region. This allows banks that already hold a license in one CEMAC country to expand into another without going through new administrative procedures to obtain a separate license,” said Yvon Sana Bangui, governor of the Bank of Central African States (BEAC), in a statement issued on February 14, 2025.
This measure aims to strengthen the banking network across CEMAC, aligning with Cameroon’s ambitions as the region’s economic powerhouse. In 2022, Cameroon alone accounted for 60% of bank accounts in CEMAC about 2.8 million accounts and 28.8% of the region’s banking network, with 15 out of 52 licensed banks. The country now plans to increase its number of banks to 30 by 2030, up from 19 today, as part of its 2020-2030 National Development Strategy (SND30).
Even with this growth, Cameroon is still catching up with countries like Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal, which have similar levels of development. According to the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), Côte d’Ivoire had 29 banks and Senegal had 28 as of March 2023. Côte d’Ivoire alone had 4.59 million bank accounts in 2020 1.8 million more than Cameroon in 2022. Across the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), the total number of bank accounts reached 15.4 million in 2020, an increase of 3 million over two years. That’s more than three times the 4.7 million accounts recorded in CEMAC in 2022.