Micro-Finance Loans: More Flexible For Fixed Salary Earners

Holders of salary accounts with credit unions have an advantage over others in obtaining real estate loans

True to its tradition of providing loans at affordable rates to members who are not financially viable to address certain concerns, some micro-finance institutions in the country have been living up to the billing. Their numerous packages, amongst them real estate loans, have over time acted as a human development factor, bridging the gap in terms of socio-economic status in the society and transforming the lives of the less financially privileged.
Of some 412 micro-finance institutions authorized by the Ministry of Finance to operate in the country as at early this year, majority of them are into real estate financing, with specific packages relating to plot acquisition and building construction. Others do not end there, they go as far as providing loans for the purchase of household furniture. Though small as the name ‘micro-finance institution’ may suggest, their operations are even more startling. Between 2016 and the current year alone, the Branch Manager of Ntarikon Cooperative Credit Union (NTACCUL) Yaounde, Benazea Leke Loveline espe Alobwede, disclosed that 483 real estate loans amounting to over FCFA 1.1 billion had been contracted in their Yaounde branch.
We learned individuals are a little more comfortable in securing their real estate finances from credit unions because the procedure in obtaining such loans is less cumbersome, takes a shorter processing time and usually do not necessitate a readily-available collateral. Benazea said a real estate loan of less than FCFA 1.5 million could be gotten the same day while a loan ranging from FCFA 1.6 to FCFA 7 million could take one week. Loans above FCFA 7 million are usually processed within a month.
Cameroon Tribune gathered that most credit unions give out real estate loans only to clients who must have been members of the micro-finance institution for not less than three months. However, hold...