Joe Dinga Pefok (Uncle Joe)
Statistics From The Ministry Of Finance Show That At The End Of December 31, 2020, There Was A Total Of 415 Microfinance Institutions In The Country. By The End Of December 31, 2022, The Total Number Of Microfinance Institutions Dropped To 402, While By The End Of December 31, 2025, The Total Number Dropped To 385. What Is Happening?
With the takeover of Standard Chartered Bank Cameroon by Access Bank last year, Cameroon today in reality counts only 18 commercial banks, while there are hundreds of Microfinance Institutions commonly known in the Anglophone Regions of the country as Credit Unions (Cooperative Credit Unions). New microfinance institutions spring up like mushrooms in the country, each year.
Most of the microfinance institutions in the country belong to Networks, which include CAMCUL, MUFID, ADVANS Cameroun, ACEP, FOCEP SA, among others. It should be noted that before, the Cameroon Credit Union League, CAMCUL, which was the umbrella organization of Credit Unions in the two Anglophone Regions (Northwest and Southwest), was the biggest and thus the most powerful Network of Microfinance Institutions in the country.
AZICCUL And NTACCUL Break Away From CAMCUL
But later, the Azire Cooperative Credit Union Limited, AZICCUL, with headquarters in Bamenda, which is indisputably one of the oldest and biggest credit unions in the country, was not happy with the controversial way CAMCUL was being run or managed, and banged the door. AZICCUL went on to create a new Network of Credit Unions known as RECCUCAM. Another big and powerful credit union, the Ntarikon Cooperative Credit Union Limited, NTACCUL, also later banged the door of CAMCUL, and went on to create another new Network of Credit Unions known as RAINBOW-CAM. In the Anglophone part of the country, almost all, if not all, microfinance institutions or credit unions belong to Networks.
It should however be noted that in Cameroon, a micro finance institution is not obliged to be affiliated to a network, though there are advantages, especially for small credit unions, to belong to Networks. In the Francophone part of the country, there are microfinance establishments that do not belong to any network. They operate independently. Thus in the records of the Ministry of Finance, there is a category of microfinance Institutions that are affiliated to Networks, while others are categorized as Independent.
Microfinance Institutions In Cameroon Are Mostly In 5 Regions
Official statistics show that microfinance institutions in the country mainly operate in five of the ten regions of the country, which are the Northwest, Southwest, West, Centre and Littoral Regions. From close observation, one will also realize that many of the microfinance establishments, that function or operate in the Centre and Littoral Regions, have their roots directly or indirectly connected to the Northwest, Southwest and West Regions. This however is understood, considering that the cooperative credit union is more of an Anglo –Saxon culture.
Though a Francophone region, the West Region has perhaps due to its proximity to the two Anglophone Regions, since developed the culture of cooperative societies. Some people talk of grass-field culture. The West Region today has also become a big force to reckon with in the microfinance sector. Several microfinance institutions in Littoral and Centre Regions today, have their roots linked to microfinance intuitions in the West Region.
385 Microfinance Institutions In The Country As By End Of Dec. 31, 2025
The authoritative French language economic newspaper, ‘Eco Matin’, recently published statistics it obtained from the Ministry of Finance, on Microfinance Institutions in the country as by the end of December 31, 2025. The statistics show that the number of Microfinance Institutions or Cooperative Credit Unions in the country, as by the end of December 31, 2025 stood as follows: Northwest Region – 97, Southwest Region – 67, Littoral Region – 64, West Region – 63, Centre Region – 59, Adamawa Region – 10, Far North Region – 7, North Region – 7, South Region – 7, and East Region – 4.
The low number of microfinance establishments in the three northern regions or the Grand North (Adamawa, Far North and North Regions), is not surprising. It is also more about the culture of the people. The Moslems have their traditional way of saving money. Observations show that they use their few microfinance institutions like SAHEL, mostly for money transfer operations. It should also be noted that there are also comparatively few commercial banks in the three northern regions.
Also, worthy of note, that many of the microfinance establishments in the Littoral and Centre Regions, have their roots in the Northwest, Southwest and West Regions.
Disturbing Drops In The Number Of Micro Finance Establishments
Meanwhile, though new microfinance institutions or credit unions spring up like mushrooms each year in the country, statistics from the Ministry of Finance show that the situation has rather been really disturbing in the last five years (2020 – 2025), as the total number of microfinance institutions, has instead been witnessing a drop, annually. Unfortunately, the Ministry of Finance does not give any reason for the drop. For example, the statistics show that by the end of December 31, 2020, there were a total of 415 Microfinance Institutions in the country. As by the end of December 31, 2022, the total number of Microfinance Institutions in Cameroon had dropped to 402. Then the latest statistics show that by the end of December 31, 2025, the total number of Microfinance Institutions stood at 385.
From a total of 415 credit unions in the country by the end of 2020, to a total of 402 credit unions in the country by the end of 2022, and then to a total of 385 credit unions in the country as by the end of 2025. What is happening? Perhaps the question that should be of big interest to the public, is what happens to people’s savings, when some of these microfinance establishments or credit unions, crash. This is definitely a disturbing situation. And let’s not also forget that microfinance institutions or credit unions are limited liability companies.
The End Of Laissez-faire Period
As The Mentor News stated in Part 1 of this series on Microfinance Institutions In Cameroon, the Central African Banking Commission commonly known by the French acronym, COBAC, and the Central African Financial Market Supervisory Commission, COSUMAF, as well as Cameroon’s Ministry of Finance, are at last putting an end to the laissez – faire period, in which they unfortunately allowed microfinance institutions in Cameroon to operate.
Observers think that the end of laissez – faire, partly accounts for the drop in the number of microfinance institutions in the country, as those that cannot meet up with the required standard, are falling by the road side. During the laissez-faire period, all sorts of credit unions were created, some of which were just out for an adventure into the financial sector. Many of these credits unions had weak financial foundations due to the low number of members, with the situation made worse by incompetence in management, corruption especially in the granting of loans, or simply put, bad governance.
And so when COBAC, COSUMAF and Cameroon’s Ministry of Finance, got up from slumber and started a strict control of microfinance institutions, some could not cope, and crashed out of the field. There is however still quite a number of credit unions around, that are supposed to be flushed out of the financial sector.
