Lukong Pius Nyuylime
19 March 2008
A three-day forum opened in Yaoundé yesterday.
Out of 1,000 microfinance establishments in the six countries of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC), only 677 have been authorised to function after having assessed financially and institutionally. This is the result of the inventory carried out by the Central African Banking Commission (COBAC) in collaboration with the Bank of Central African States (BEAC).
The important role of microfinance in the development of the economies of Central African countries in particular and South Saharan countries in general is what has brought experts to Yaounde. For three days running, participants will discuss how best to canalise the activities of microfinance establishments through a legal framework that will enhance the environment for their continuous growth. "The putting in place of a legal framework and cleansing of the sector appears necessary for, this sector has registered very strong expansion in its activities", Philibert Andzembe, Governor of BEAC said.
To the head of the European Union to Cameroon, Javier Puyol, the microfinance sector is a veritable instrument for the fight against poverty. As such, he enjoined the BEAC governor in calling for the putting in place of a friendly environment for the development of the sector. The European Union, he said will continue to support all measures aimed at promoting the sector. In fact, all the five speeches presented at the opening ceremony of the forum, at the BEAC head office yesterday testified to the importance of microfinance.
The Minister of Finance, Essimi Menye who presided at the ceremony saw nothing less than microfinance being an indispensible instrument to stimulate the economies of the sub-region. In fact, to him, microfinance is one of the best channels through which countries of the sub-region can get out of poverty. In Cameroon, he said, the sector was given and will continue to be given an important place in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper.
By the end of 2007, the number of clients served by Microfinance establishments rose to over 1.3 million against 445,000 in 2000, Andzembe said.
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