The Cameroonian banking system boasts substantial reserves, which could fuel economic growth by providing necessary credits. As of March 2025, CEMAC banks, largely comprised of Cameroonian entities, held 2,472 billion CFA francs in free reserves 2.25 times the regulatory requirement. This reserve surplus should ideally support credit expansion. The Cameroonian subsidiary of the BGFI Group, incorporated in Gabon, announced a net profit of 11 billion CFA francs for the year 2024, a 9% increase compared to the previous year 2023. United Bank for Africa, for its part, announced a net profit of 26.5 billion CFA francs for its Cameroonian subsidiary, its best performance outside of Nigeria during the period. The Société Générale subsidiary reported a net profit of 29.8 billion CFA francs, Afriland First Bank declared a net profit of 27 billion CFA francs, while Ecobank reported a net margin of 21 billion.

In reality, however, data from the BEAC (Central Bank) suggests that in Cameroon, the net exposure of banks to the state was only 1,992.4 billion CFA francs as of the end of March 2025, a 10.3% decrease compared to the same period in 2024. Furthermore, net credits to the state represented only 32.5% of those granted to the real economy (6,116.3 billion CFA francs). Finally, while credits to the state are declining, those granted to the private sector are increasing by 22.4% . However, these figures mask the issue of SME financing, which in the CEMAC zone faces difficult access to funding, and when possible, they have to pay premiums and credit application fees, which can bring the effective borrowing rate to around 15% to 17%. A significant portion of credits to the private sector therefore benefits mainly large companies, sometimes subsidiaries of large multinationals. In the banking sector, some defend themselves against this criticism. One banker, speaking on condition of anonymity, explained that there are many reasons why SMEs in CEMAC struggle to be eligible for bank loans. The first reason is their vulnerability to economic shocks, which can put small businesses in difficulty with limited recourse options. Currently, even in its most optimistic forecasts, the BEAC does not rule out a continuation of the effects of economic shocks, including a decline in the value of the US dollar, which reduces the value in CFA francs of revenues generated abroad. An election year with an uncertain outcome and a lack of formalization characterize many SMEs.Other factors mentioned include the cost of generating financing for SMEs, with significant information gaps requiring substantial resources to assess credit viability. According to internal sources at the BEAC, work is underway to finalize the establishment of credit bureaus, which will reduce the weight of information asymmetry. 

Finally, banks cite the mechanism for realizing collateral, which is inadequate, with the COBAC ,  requiring full provisioning in case of non-repayment after three years, while procedures for liquidating collateral and guarantees can take longer. However, these arguments are not immune to criticism. One potential solution could be to develop a secondary market for bank credit or securitization. The dynamics observed in the secondary money market between 2024 and 2025 demonstrate the interest shown by commercial banks. Activities such as repo transactions and transfers to a buyer without any fees have almost tripled over the period. However, this would require further steps in terms of legal infrastructure, information, and training to replicate this on credits granted to the private sector.

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