The Number Of Commercial Banks In Cameroon, Which Last Year Rose To 19, Has Dropped Back To 18

Last Year, The Coming Of AFRICA GLOBAL BANK Of Cameroonian Business Magnate, SAMUEL FOYOU, Raised The Number Of Commercial Banks in Cameroon To 19.  But With The Official Takeover Of STANDARD CHARTERED BANK Cameroon By ACCES BANK On Dec. 5, 2025, The Number Of Commercial Banks In The Country Has Dropped Back To 18. (List Of 18 Authorized Commercial Banks Is Inside).  

 Moroccan Born, NABIL KADIRI, Appointed General Manager Of SCB Cameroun.

When the newly created commercial bank, Africa Golden Bank, of Cameroonian born business magnate, SAMUEL FOYOU (Majority Shareholder), went operational in Cameroon last year, the total number of commercial banks in the country rose to a total of 19. But with the official transfer of Standard Chartered Bank Cameroon to ACCESS BANK Plc of Nigeria on Friday, December 5, 2025, the number of commercial banks in the country has dropped back to 18. This is because Access Bank Plc of Nigeria already had a subsidiary in Cameroon (Access Bank Cameroon).

So with the purchase of Standard Chartered Bank Cameroon by Access Bank Plc, the Customers, personnel, infrastructures and equipment of Standard Chartered Bank Cameroon, have in practical terms been transferred to Access Bank Cameroon, a subsidiary of one of one of the African banks that is making the continent proud. It is interesting to note that some commercial banks of neighbouring countries like Nigeria, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea are interested in doing business in Cameroon, as they have created subsidiaries or affiliates in the country, which are in fact doing well.

The 18 Commercial Banks    

Meanwhile, the 18 commercial banks operating in Cameroon today include: 1) ‘Banque Internationale du Cameroun pour l’Epargne et le Credit, BICEC.  2) ’Societe Generale Cameroun’, SGC (former SGBC).  3) Societe Commerciale de Banque, SCB Cameroun.  4) Afriland First Bank.  5) Citibank Cameroon. 7) Union Bank of Cameroon. 8) Ecobank Cameroun. 9) Banque Atlantique Cameroun. 10) Commercial Bank Cameroun, CBC.  11) United Bank for Africa, UBA Cameroon 12) National Financial Bank, NFC Bank. 13) Bange Bank. 14) ‘Credit Communautaire d’Afrique Bank”, CCA  Bank. 15) ‘Banque  Camerounaise des Petites et Moyennes Entreprises , BC – PME. 16) Banque Gabonaise pour le Financement International, BGFI Bank. 17) Access Bank. 18) La Regionale Bank. 19) Africa Golden Bank.

It should be noted that for strategic reasons, the State of Cameroon has shares (minority) in almost all, if not all big financial institutions operating in the country.  In BICEC for example, the State of Cameroon is the second major shareholder, and that is why it is the Government that always appoints the Board Chair of BICEC, while the group with the majority share appoints the General Manager or top management of the bank.

Domination Of African Banks In Cameroon / The French Have Only One Bank In Cameroon Today

It is also interesting to note that though there is a domination of foreign commercial banks in the Cameroon Banking Sector, a majority of the commercial banks are in fact African banks. These are African banks, or commercial banks created in Africa by African investors, or banks in which African investors are the majority shareholders. These include banks with local capital like Africa Global Bank.

It should be noted that there are two commercial banks operating in Cameroon, that used to  be French banks, or banks with French majority shareholders, but that are today Moroccan banks, or better still,  African banks, because  Moroccan Groups bought the majority shares from the French. There is SCB Cameroun that used to be known as SCB Credit Lyonnais, when it was a French bank. A Moroccan Group, ATTIJARIWAFA Bank, is today the majority shareholder of the bank, which is now known as SCB Cameroun. It is the same thing with BICEC (former BICIC), which used to be a French bank, or better still the majority shareholder used to be French.  A couple of years ago, a Moroccan Group became the majority shareholder of BICEC, and immediately appointed a Moroccan as General Manager. The only French commercial bank in Cameroon today, is ‘Societe Generale Cameroun, SGC, which used to be known as SGBC.

And come to think of it, that a Nigerian Group, Access Bank Plc, has today bought and taken over some subsidiaries of the renowned Standard Chartered Bank of United Kingdom, in Africa.  Now, customers, and personnel of Standard Chartered Bank Cameroon, have been integrated into Access Bank Cameroon, and thus joined the customers and personnel of African banks in Cameroon. Who could have before 1960 when Nigeria got its independence from the United kingdom or Britain,  imagined that  there will come a time when a Nigerian Bank will be able to buy the subsidiaries or affiliates  in Africa, of a renowned British bank (Standard Chartered Bank)!

More African Banks Operating In Cameroon  

Meanwhile, the United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Access Bank, are two major Nigerian commercial banks among the African banks operating in Cameroon today.  Other African banks operating in Cameroon today include BGFI Bank of Gabon, ECOBANK, BANGE Bank of Equatorial Guinea, and Banque Atlantique of Ivory Coast.  Worthy of note that though a commercial bank, ‘Banco Nacional de Guinea Equatorial’, BANGE Bank, that is, the National Bank of Equatorial Guinea, was created by the oil rich State of Equatorial Guinea, which remains the principal shareholder (64 %) of the bank.  BANGE Bank started operation in Cameroon in 2022, and is waxing strong.  Worthy of note that Manuel Osa Nsue, who was the General Manager of BANGE Bank in Equatorial Guinea from 2012, was on August 17, 2024 appointed Prime Minister of that country.

It should be noted that Banque Atlantique Cameroun, was originally a Cameroonian bank known as AMITY BANK, which for sometimes was the pride of the Anglophones. How the bank ended up becoming an Ivorian bank, is a long and highly controversial story.

Afriland First Bank, Saving Cameroon’s Image

 Afriland First Bank which is a bank that was created in Cameroon with local capital (majority shares), and which has the Cameroonian multibillionaire, Paul Fokam Kammogne, as principal shareholder and chief promoter, has in the last couple of years constantly been among the first three banks as regard the share or percentage of the market occupied in the banking sector in the country. This is according to information at Cameroon’s Ministry of Finance. In 2022 for example, Afriland First Bank occupied the first position, and with a comfortable lead, ahead of the second and third which were ‘Societe Generale Cameroun’, SGC (former SGBC) and BICEC.

Besides Afriland First Bank, other commercial banks which are Cameroonian, that is, banks whose majority shareholders are Cameroonians, include Union Bank of Cameroon (UBC), ‘Credit Communautaire d’Afrique Bank’ (CCA – Bank), Africa Global Bank,  National Financial Credit Bank (NFC Bank), ‘Banque Camerounaise  des Petites et Moyennes Enterprises (BC-PME), La Regionale Bank, and Commercial Bank Cameroon (CBC).   All these commercial banks are fighting hard in the commercial banking sector in the country, to have their own fair shares of the market, and some are in fact waxing so strong in the banking sector.

It is interesting to also point out that two of these financial institutions started like micro finance institutions, commonly known in the Anglophone part of the country as Credit Unions.  The two are La Regionale and CCA –Bank.  The financial institutions worked so hard and grew in leaps and bounds, that they were transformed into commercial banks, with the approval of the chief regular in the CEMAC Zone, that is, the Central Africa Banking Commission (COBAC), and the State or government of Cameroon.

Highest Number Of Banks In CEMAC Zone

Meanwhile, it not surprising that Cameroon which has the largest economy among the six member countries of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community, CEMAC, has the highest number of commercial banks. Statistics at the end of 2023 showed that Central African Republic had 4 commercial banks, Chad had 10 commercial banks, Congo Republic (Brazzaville) had 10 commercial banks, Gabon had 7 commercial banks, and Equatorial Guinea had 5 commercial banks. It should be noted that though very rich in natural resources, the Central Africa Sub – region is ironically the most backward on the African Continent in terms of development, mainly due to bad governance. That is why there are comparatively few commercial banks in the sub –region.

Authorities Say More Commercial banks Are Coming

But officials of Cameroon’s Ministry of Finance have in the last few years repeatedly said that more commercial banks are to be implanted in Cameroon, but without giving any details. It is not known if they are serious or honest in the declarations, or if they are just playing CPDM politics. A French language newspaper, Defis Actuels for example, on Monday, July 15, 2024, quoted the Director General of the Treasury and Financial / Monetary Cooperation at the Ministry of Finance, MOH SYLVESTER TANGONGHO, in a front page story, as having declared that: “Au moins sept nouvelle banques vont implanter aU Cameroun d’ici 2030”, that is, “At least seven new banks will be implanted in Cameroon by 2030”. But again, no details were given. Close to one year and six months after that declaration, the number of commercial Bank has instead dropped.

Another Development 

Meanwhile in a related development, the Board of Directors of SCB Cameroun, a bank which has as majority shareholder a Moroccan group, Attijariwafa Bank, on Monday, December 8, 2025 designated a Moroccan, 54 year old NABIL KADIRI, as the new General Manager of the bank (SCB Cameroun), to replace French man, Alexandre Bezlaud. The appointment will take effect from December 19, 2025. Nabil Kadiri  has  a long experience in the banking and financial sector, having spent a total of 30 years in the sector ,with 24 years in Attijairiwafa Group that  is majority shareholder of SCB Cameroun.

SCB Cameroun is today present in 28 towns in the country, with a total of 58 agencies. The bank has a workforce of over 620 personnel, and has over 220,000 customers.