MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Government of Cameroon Launches Centrale des Risques de Etablissements de Microfinance (CREMF) in Collaboration with Microfinance Institution Networks CamCCUL, ANEM-CAM to Address Delinquency Rate of 23%

The Cameroonian government recently announced the launch of the Centrale des Risques de Etablissements de Microfinance (CREMF), an organization that assists microfinance institutions (MFIs) in assessing the credit worthiness of their customers. Since June 2018, CREMF has offered a database of microloan borrowers that any Cameroonian MFI can consult for data such as whether an applicant has outstanding loans from other MFIs and her or his “potential to reimburse loans within agreed periods.” The objective of CREMF is to lower the country’s microloan delinquency rate by limiting consumers’ ability to borrow from multiple MFIs. Shey Nfor Musa, who serves as President of both the Cameroon Cooperative Credit Union League (CamCCUL) and the Association Nationale des Etablissements de Microfinance du Cameroun (ANEM-CAM), announced these organizations’ intent to cooperate with CREMF.

The microfinance delinquency rate in Cameroon stands at 22.9 percent, according to the country’s National Credit Council (NCC), an arm of Cameroon’s Ministry of Finance that sets the country’s credit policy and enforces banking regulation. Based on data from private-sector banks and the Cameroon-based Banque des Etats de l’Afrique Centrale (BEAC), NCC monitors: (1) deposits in the country’s banking system; (2) lending from BEAC to private banks; (3) consumer borrowers’ credit risk and; (4) the flow of payments to and from foreign countries.

Formed in 1968, CamCCUL is a network of 208 credit unions that also offers microfinance services directly to the public. CamCCUL is structured as cooperative and is registered with the Commission Bancaire de l’Afrique Centrale (COBAC). According to the US-based nonprofit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), CamCCUL reported total assets of USD 297 million, a gross loan portfolio of USD 199 million outstanding to 85,000 borrowers and USD 235 million in deposits held for 458,000 depositors as of December 2016.

Established in 2003, ANEM-CAM is a nonprofit association of 250 MFIs operating in Cameroon. The organization’s goal is to “defend the collective interests of its members, to represent the [microfinance] profession to the supervisory authorities, monetary authorities and third parties and to participate in the formulation of proposals to define or to improve the legal and regulatory framework according to the environment.”

By Nicholas Galimberti, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

Cameroon Tribune article
https://www.cameroon-tribune.cm/articles/20094/fr/

Economic Management in Cameroon, by Wilfred A Ndongko
https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/457/01PUB0000001206.pdf?sequence=1

CamCCUL MIX profile
https://www.themix.org/mixmarket/profiles/camccul

A Study of Accounting and Accountability Practices in Microfinance Institutions (MFIs): Case Evidence From Cameroon, by Sha’ven Widin Bongasu
http://etheses.bham.ac.uk/6008/1/Sha’ven15PhD.pdf

The Regulatory Landscape of Microfinance in the CEMAC Region, by Mamouda Mbemap
http://www.cermi.eu/documents/Final_TheRegulatorylandscapeCemacjul212009.pdf

ANEM-CAM profile
http://www.afminetwork.org/members_anecam-cameroun_79.html

MicroCapital Brief; February 23, 2016; Cameroon Cooperative Credit Union League (CamCCUL) Members to Access Agricultural Credit Facilitation Fund of Projet d’Appui au Développement de la Microfinance Rurale (PADMIR)
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-cameroon-cooperative-credit-union-league-camccul-members-to-access-agricultural-credit-facilitation-fund-of-projet-dappui-au-developpement-de-la-microfinance-rurale-pad/

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