A 10 billion line of appropriations for SMEs
The announcement was made after an audience between the Minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motaze, and Abakal Mahamat, Managing Director of BGFIBank Cameroon.
To ensure the sustainability of the entrepreneurial fabric, in particular Cameroonian small and medium-sized enterprises, to guarantee the resumption and support of activities in this sector, the BGFIBank group, through its local subsidiary, provides SMEs with a financing line of 10 billion CFAF. The related memorandum of understanding was formalized on 1 September 2020 by the Minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motaze and the team of the best bank in Central Africa for the 4th consecutive year led by the Managing Director, Abakal Mahamat.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted us all in varying degrees, and made us realize how much we depend on each other. We cannot therefore remain deaf to the requests of the various players in our value chain”, the Managing Director explained.
With a representativeness of more than 90% of the economic fabric, SMEs generate 67% of the jobs created by enterprises in Cameroon and have a turnover of 34% of the business world. The health crisis that is shaking the country has had dramatic consequences in this sector, which is now on the verge of collapse.
According to data collected by the employers grouping of Cameroon, 72% of SMEs are negatively impacted and accumulate financial losses of around 80%. What for the Managing Director must be supported is to avoid a major crash in the economy in general.
“A lot of activities are at a standstill; SMEs have been affected and the government has made efforts in this direction, in particular the provision of tax exemptions to support enterprises. We could not leave such a strategic partner as the State alone in this struggle. We therefore wanted to contribute our stone by supporting the government by setting up a financing line of CFA 10 billion francs in order to enable them to relaunch their activities, “he explained.
For the Minister of Finance, this support is part of the measures that the government is putting in place so that the health crisis does not lead to a social crisis.
It should be noted that the conditions of access to this financing remain to be defined by a joint MINFI- BGFI committee to be set up shortly. The Minister of Finance, Louis Paul MOTAZE welcomed this unexpected support from a reliable partner who intervenes at the time when the government is preparing the post-covid recovery plan for the Cameroonian economy instructed by the Head of State, H.E. Paul BIYA.
