(Business in Cameroon) - Cameroonian Commercial Bank for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises, known as Banque camerounaise-PME (BC-PME) could become a public investment bank, according to a 2020 report published by the Technical Commission for the Rehabilitation of Public and Para public Sector Enterprises (CTR). The report does not give a specific timeline for this transformation but it informs that the project is in line with the country's 2020-2030 development strategy. 

This change will substantially increase the investment and development financing offers and broaden the spectrum of clients BC-PME can attend to since as it is currently, only SMEs benefit from the services offered by the state commercial bank, the report explains. Moreover, with this new status, the institution will be able to offer cash flow loans, lease financing, medium and long-term loans, unsecured loans, export credits, thematic loans, etc. 

BC-PME was established in 2011 with a XAF20 billion capital. According to the CTR, it granted a total of XAF8.9 billion credit to SMEs in 2020 against XAF6.8 billion in 2019, representing an increase by 31% in the credits it granted between the two periods. Of the credit it granted in 2020, 77.5% was captured by the construction and ICT sectors. During that fiscal year, the bank generated a positive net result of XAF116,844,299, up 107.6% compared to its performance in 2019 when it posted a XAF1.5 billion loss.

Sylvain Andzongo