(Business in Cameroon) - Between September 2013 and September 2014, the National Loan Committee of Cameroon, which met on January 13, 2015, noted “a considerable increase” in loans granted to companies, with a 48% progression in the volume of credits received, while deposits by these companies increased by 25% over the same period.

But behind this bank support for SMEs lurks another reality: the high interest on loans to these companies which are generally considered to be the country’s engines of economic growth.

In order to avoid these exorbitant bank loan interest rates, which remain more manageable than the borderline usurious rates used by microfinance establishments, SMEs are turning to tontines.