(Business in Cameroon) - On December 14, in Yaoundé, Finance Minister Louis Paul Motaze presided over the signature of an agreement between the state of Cameroon and Societe Generale. In the framework of the agreement, a XAF25 billion credit line will be set up for local SMEs affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

During the ceremony, Mareme Mbaye Ndiaye (managing director of Societe Generale Cameroon) indicated that thanks to the said credit line, “Cameroonian SMEs operating in the manufacturing, trade, agriculture, hotels, tourism and transport sectors will benefit from greater working capital support from Societe Generale Cameroon. They will also enjoy more flexible disbursement conditions to accelerate their investment projects, protect jobs, and facilitate economic recovery.”

 The interest rates will be interesting as well, she added. She then invited companies to visit the bank for their funding needs since the requests will be studied on a “case-by-case” basis. To benefit, they should be clients of the said bank and provide financial records that prove their companies have been affected by the pandemic.

For the Minister of Finance, he indicated that this credit line was being guaranteed by the government in line with its decision (since the confirmation of the first coronavirus case in the country in March 2020) to support SMEs that constitute a major part of the Cameroonian economy.  

The new credit line included, Societe Generale Cameroon’s credit line opened to support SMEs amid the pandemic is now XAF35 billion. Indeed a month ago, the bank signed a XAF10 billion credit agreement with the European Investment Bank to support Cameroonian SMEs.

“This new credit agreement once again reflects the commitment of Societe Generale Cameroon (and above all Societe Generale Group through its Grow With Africa program) to make the financing of the Cameroonian entrepreneurial ecosystem one of the major axes of its development strategy," Mareme Mbaye Ndiaye concluded.

S.A.