AfDB approves €25 million trade finance facility for Cameroon’s CCA-Bank to boost SMEs

The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has approved a €25 million trade finance facility to Cameroon’s Crédit Communautaire d’Afrique-Bank (CCA-Bank) to expand support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and other businesses across the country.

The approval was granted during a Board session on December 1 in Abidjan and will be deployed as a Transaction Guarantee, an AfDB product that provides risk coverage to eligible African banks for their trade finance transactions.

According to Lamin Drammeh, Head of the Bank Group’s Trade Finance Division, the facility will facilitate imports of equipment for Cameroon’s industrial, agro-industrial, and telecommunications sectors. “It will also enable the African Development Bank to provide up to a 100 percent guarantee to confirming banks, facilitating the confirmation of letters of credit and other trade finance instruments issued by CCA-Bank for the benefit of SMEs,” Drammeh said.

Léandre Bassolé, Director General of the Bank’s Central Africa region, highlighted that the initiative aligns with AfDB’s goal of strengthening direct support for the private sector in Cameroon. “This facility will reinforce CCA-Bank’s capacity to support SMEs, including those owned by women and young people, boost the local productive sector, drive economic growth, and create thousands of jobs,” he said.

Marguerite Fonkwen Atanga, Managing Director of CCA-Bank, described the facility as a major milestone for the bank. “This strategic partnership with the African Development Bank Group will significantly enhance our capacity to support SMEs, women entrepreneurs, and start-ups in Cameroon and across Africa,” she stated.

The new facility underscores AfDB’s commitment to fostering private sector development, financial inclusion, and sustainable economic growth in Central Africa.