(Business in Cameroon) - The Cameroon Women Business Leaders Association (CWBLA), a grouping of businesswomen founded and lead by Adélaïde Ngallé Miano, signed a partnership agreement with microfinance institution Nofia on September 21, 2017. The agreement aims to help CWBLA’s members have a better access to loans to finance their projects. 

According to its president, the association was born from “the will to share and find solutions to challenges faced by businesswomen”. “It was necessary in order to promote the activities of women who are bold enough to take the risk of starting a business, to make them more visible and heard,” Adélaïde Ngallé Miano added.

According to a study, access to funding is the main challenge to the development of SMEs that represent 80% of the country's industrial fabric. The same study indicates that when the SMEs are led by women, there are ten times more challenges to overcome. 

It is to correct this that the Cameroon Women Business Leaders Association started looking for financial partners who can facilitate loan access to its members.

Nofia microfinance is the second microfinance institution to commit with CWBLA this year. Indeed, it was preceded on March 10 by the Cameroonian subsidiary of French lender, Société Générale.   

BRM