Richard Kwang Kometa
24 March 2008
The forum on microfinance that held in Yaounde from 18-20 March 2008 carries with it the hopes and aspirations of millions of inhabitants within the Central African sub-region who need to develop yet lack the financial support.
Over the years several low income earners in Cameroon, like elsewhere in Africa, have suffered from the absence of funds to invest in economically gainful ventures. Globalisation has compounded issues in that the New Information Technologies, that are vital for access into the 'global village', remain elitist within most parts of the African Continent.
To overcome those obstacles that have kept the banking sector away from the poor, especially within the rural milieu, and to enable microfinance structures provide loan facilities to small-scale farmers and business persons, it was indispensible that those involved in the microfinance sector should concert. This definitely accounted for why stakeholders came up with the Yaounde forum.
Some of the outcomes of the forum not only reflected the difficulties that access to microfinance facilities present, but also the importance of microfinance as a vital tool for development. Participants at the workshop talked of the diversification of microfinance services, the need for a better regulatory framework, and the role of supervision among others.
In order that microfinance institutions serve the low income earners better, it is important that those who put in their hard-earned resources to create such structures, as well as those who save or borrow from these financial bodies, should have an optimum guarantee for their investments. That accounts for why the presence of officials from the Bank of Central African States, BEAC and other financial organisations at the forum was salutary. The follow up to the resolutions of the Yaounde workshop should be a priority concern on the programme of action of monetary officials in Central Africa. This is not to say the contribution of these microfinance structures to development in the society has so far been questionable. Rather, the importance of microfinance structures to the uplifting of the living standards of the poor can be made much stronger if their goods and services receive better marketing strategies among the needy populations of the Central African sub-region.
One thing that many have decried over the years is the problem of access to loan facilities. If conventional banking institutions have not made it easy for the poor to have access to loan for development, it would be stifling enough if microfinance structures should also be out of reach for the poor. It was therefore normal that besides regulation, participants at the Yaounde forum should insist on the importance of access to financing.
Thus, if the vital link between the banking sectors and the microfinance institutions could be reinforced after such a workshop, it would constitute a source of hope for those who depend on the microfinance institutions as their best bait for development
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