(Business in Cameroon) - Credit institutions operating in the CEMAC region granted XAF3,820.7 billion of financial assistance to the region’s economic operators in H2-2020, up from XAF3,256.6 billion in H2-2019. The figures are reported by the Bank of Central African States (BEAC) in its recent statistics bulletin on credit costs and conditions in the CEMAC region.

The bulletin informs that 45.78% (XAF1749.11 billion) of the overall credit granted by the banks during the period was captured by economic agents in Cameroon. This envelope is twice the credit granted to economic agents in Gabon (20.8%). As for countries like Congo, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, and the Central African Republic, their economic agents respectively captured 19.91%, 7.5%, 4.29%, and 1.67% of the overall credits.

This high volume of credits captured by Cameroon shows its dominant position in the CEMAC economy. The country, whose economy is diversified, hosts close to 40% of the industrial base in CEMAC. It also has the most extensive bank and microfinance network in the sub-region.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Cameroon is the CEMAC region’s breadbasket with over 52% of the subregion's agricultural production

The UN agency also indicates that in 2017, the value of Cameroon’s agricultural exports represented 88% of that of the CEMAC region.

BRM