All Of Cameroon’s Banks Would Have Closed If They Only Had To finance SMEs” - Pierre Kam, President Camlease

An SME-focused forum was launched last October 24 in Douala, Cameroon. During the event which was themed “For more protected, performant and...

An SME-focused forum was launched last October 24 in Douala, Cameroon. During the event which was themed “For more protected, performant and competitive SMEs”, actors present discussed the vulnerability of the enterprises which represent 80% of Cameroon’s economic fabric.

"All of Cameroon’s banks would have closed if they only had to finance SME’s", Pierre Kam, president of the Cameroonian Association for leasing (CAMLEASE), said, thus confirming banks’ reluctance to lend to SMEs, which often have many shortcomings, both in their structure and their management.

All Of Cameroon’s Banks Would Have Closed If They Only Had To finance SMEs” - Pierre Kam, President Camlease

The forum should help elaborate an action plan to make Cameroon’s SMEs, whose failure rate is quite high, more viable. Indeed, a report published by Cameroon’s center for research and analysis of economic policies (CAMERCAP), it was revealed that 72.24% of SMEs launched in 2010, disappeared from the registry of Cameroon’s tax directorate at May 2016.

"This means that 7 out of every 10 companies created between 2010 and 2015 did not survive till May 2016" CAMERCAP explained. Business in Cameroon