SME Bank one year on:

No loans yet for small & medium size businesses

Eleven months after the state-owned Small and Medium-size Enterprises Bank (SME-Bank) opened its doors in Yaounde and Douala, it is still a mystery how many loans it has accorded and to which enterprises

By Ojong Steven Ayukogem in Yaounde

GM of SMEs Bank, Mrs.

 Agnes NdoumbeMandeng

The Cameroonian Bank for Small and Medium-size Enterprises SME-Bank known in French as the BanqueCamerounaise de Petites etMoyennesEntreprisesBc-PME, that went operational since eleven months ago that is on 20 July 2015, is still to communicate to the public the records of its activities and transactions with its target users. This is in spite of a clause in its statutes that compels it to publish regularly, monthly records of its transactions with the public.

                However, an inside source at the bank has hinted The Median that of the hundreds of loan applications that have so far submitted at the bank barely less than 10 have been treated. But the source did not say for sure which company(s) had so far benefitted any loans from the bank.

                The source explained to us that if the bank is unable to give out loans to small and medium-size businesses it is because of its very weak capital base which is made even paltrier by the huge amounts requested as loans by applicants.

                Yet another source told The Median that the bank has not yet gone fully operational; that it is still in the process of getting itself well structured and planted on the ground. Until this is done it cannot start granting loans.

                It is however difficult for us to say which of these versions is correct. And our difficulty is not made easy by the adamance of the authorities of the bank who have elected to maintain sealed lips whenever they are approached by prying journalists seeking good information.

                The General Manager, Mrs. Agnes NdoumbeMandeng who was appointed from the department of treasury, finance and monetary cooperation of the MINFI, has granted only one interview to the press ever since she took office and this was shortly before the bank officially opened its doors to the public on 20 July 2015. In that interview with Cameroon Tribune the senior treasury inspector told the public that the SMEs bank has set up its head office in Yaounde and has recruited qualified staff to kick-start serious business.

                Agnes Mandeng also promised to open the Douala branch of the bank in a forth night and that operations would also proceed there immediately.

                But ever since then the supposed financier of small businesses has recoiled into her luxurious office situated at Carrefour Nlongkak here. She has hardly made any media outing or accepted to talk to journalists even on the sidelines of economic forums that she regularly attends in Douala and Yaounde.

                It is understood that the bank took-off with an initial capital of FCFA 10 billion provided by its sole proprietor, the state of Cameroon. With this money the GM was able to hire and pay for both the head office and the Douala office, equip these offices, recruit and pay workers and also keep the bank running until now.

                But sources say after doing all of these the bank’s coffers are almost in red, as no extra funding has come again from government.

                This explains why the bank cannot give out loans to any of the over 250 businesses that have indicated their readiness to do transactions with it, it was reported.

                The Median learned that though close to FCFA 3 billions are presently lying fallow at the bank, this amount cannot finance even a quarter of the many loan requests that have been tendered at its cash counters. The situation is because almost all the loan requests are to the tune of hundreds of millions or over a billion FCFA.

                That is why in recognition of these objective shortcomings the government is already contemplating alternative ways of financing for the bank. Following a series of meetings held at the PM’s Office, it emerged that at least FCFA 50 billion would be pumped in if only to salvage the bank from an imminent still-birth, we learned.

                There are also ongoing talks with the African Development Bank ADB to provide some financing through the African Guarantee Fund. The financing from the ADB will be principally for the agro-sector, we learned.

                Worthy to mention that since its creation by presidential decree several years ago and following its effective take-off in July 2015, observers have continued questioning whether the SME bank has come to stay this time around given that similar projects in the past crashed.

                It should be noted that most state-owned banks have almost always been considered as public milking cows that are open for who ever has a good container and can position themselves well as to collect enough milk and vamoose.

                The collapse of Credit Agricole, FONADER, FOGAPE, NPMB and many others are still fresh in the minds of Cameroonians.