ACCION opens 2 microfinance branches in Cameroon

Microfinance Monitor, May 7, 2010: EB-ACCION Microfinance, a new joint venture microfinance institution of ACCION International and a pan-African banking group Ecobank in Africa, has opened the doors of its first two branches in Douala, at the Mboppi and Congo markets.

IFC of the World Bank Group is making a 15 percent investment; ACCION Investments in Microfinance, SPC (AINV) is taking a 30 percent stake in the new institution.

EB-ACCION Microfinance has been established to offer microcredit and savings products to owners of micro-enterprises. It will also offer microinsurance and money transfer services. In its first five years of operation, the institution expects to open 83,000 savings accounts, with total deposits of US $36 million. In the same period, the institution expects to serve 33,000 active borrowers with an outstanding loan portfolio of US $37 million.

EB-ACCION Microfinance will leverage Ecobank’s existing branch infrastructure, payment service and distribution networks to maximize operational efficiency and control costs. A staff of approximately 50 young Cameroonians has been recruited, supervised by a team of senior managers, including ACCION staff.

Over the next five years, EB-ACCION Microfinance plans to extend operations to other cities in Cameroon, including Yaounde, Bafoussam, Garoua and Maroua. If conditions allow, service may be extended in the following years to other countries in the region.

Credit operations will utilize an underwriting methodology used successfully by EB-ACCION in Ghana and by ACCION partners throughout the world, which assesses the customer’s repayment capacity based on calculation of the household surplus rather than on traditional collateral.

Michael Schlein, president and CEO of ACCION, said, “After two years of successful partnership with Ecobank in Ghana and Nigeria, we begin work in Cameroon with tremendous confidence in our ability to provide opportunity and help entrepreneurs and working families to improve their living standards. EB-ACCION Microfinance is a testimony to our commitment to building inclusive finance in some of the world’s most challenging and underserved markets.”