(Business in Cameroon) - In Cameroon, the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) has selected the SME promotion agency APME as its partner for the deployment of its SME financing program. The selection was announced by an IsDB delegation, which visited Jean Marie Louis Badga, director general of the APME, last Wednesday. By selecting APME as its partner in the program, IsDB wants to capitalize on the selectee’s expertise in non-financial support (structuring, advice, credit facilitation, etc…) to provide loans to SMEs via a credit line opened with Afriland First Bank. 

According to Ahmadou Cire Fall, who headed the IsDB delegation, the financing challenges faced by SMEs are caused by business structuring, formalization, business planning, and packaging issues. Meanwhile, since its creation, APME has been working to address those issues with actions such as coaching and training. 

Let's note that on June 2, 2022, in Sharm El-Sheik (Egypt), Youssoufa Bouba, deputy managing director of Afriland First Bank, signed an agreement for a €40 million ( over CFAF26 billion) credit line with the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), a subsidiary of the IsDB. 

The IsDB expects the credit line, co-financed by the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (Badea),  will help boost its commitment to SMEs and promote Islamic financing in the Cameroonian business community. 

BRM