(Business in Cameroon) - Bange Bank Cameroon SA, a subsidiary being set up by the National Bank of Equatorial Guinea (Bange) in Cameroon, was issued a business license by the Ministry of Trade on August 5, 2020.

 "Any commercial company, whatever its sector of activity, must first obtain the said license, which facilitates its registration in the trade and personal property credit register. It is required from foreign individuals or companies as well as firms majority-owned by foreigners,” the Ministry of Trade explains.   

It adds that the obtention of this license is compulsory for Bange Bank Cameroon S.A. under the Law No. 2015/018 of December 21, 2015, governing commercial activities in Cameroon, since it is majority-owned by Equatorial Guineans and the chairman of its board Manuel Osa Nsue Nsua, and managing director Emilio Moyo Avoro are both citizens of this neighboring country.

The decree states that "the above-mentioned license is granted to Bange Bank Cameroon S.A. for its operations in the banking sector, in strict compliance with the laws and regulations in force."

After this license, the institution still has to obtain the approval of the monetary authorities which are the Central African Banking Commission (Cobac) and the Cameroonian Ministry of Finance.

In June 2019, led by the Equatorial Guinean ambassador Anastaseo Asumu Mum Munos, a delegation from the Bange met the Cameroonian Finance Minister Louis Paul Motaze in Yaoundé. At the end of the confidential discussions, Ebe Mba, chairman of the board of directors of Bange -the parent company- told the press that the banking institution was about to launch the procedures required to open a subsidiary in Cameroon.

Sylvain Andzongo