Customers…Priority of Priorities

Microfinance institutions in Cameroon have been expanding at an almost exponential rate and today control a substantial customer base. Its registered success in reaching the population is accounted for by the inability of the majority of the population to access classical financial system largely controlled by commercial banks.  The outbreak and growth of microfinance in Cameroon and in the Central African sub region have not left the authorities indifferent. For a sector that contributes about 10 per cent to the country’s economy, there is every reason for the administration to put an eye on its activities.  This, exactly, is what the Central African Banking Commission (COBAC) is out to regulate. Faced with the new challenges that have come up almost paralysing the sector, the commission is working out revised regulations to tailor them to suit the new dispensation. These cover areas such as: creation, management and dissolution among others.  In effect, the microfinance sector is limping and this is disturbing considering the important role it is expected to play in the fight against poverty.
Microfinance institutions are, to say the least, people-oriented. Unfortunately, many have not been able to live up to expectation. In the year 2,000, Cameroon counted about 600 microfinance institutions according to the Central African Banking ...