The European Investment Bank (EIB) announced it has approved a €12 million (XAF7.8 billion) credit line to be opened at the Commercial Bank Cameroon (CBC). The announcement was made during the EU-Africa Business Forum (EABF) organized before the 6th EU-AU summit that was launched on February 17, 2022, in Brussels, Belgium. 

According to the EIB, the credit line will help support Cameroonian firms’ resilience amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The agreement will be signed the next time the EIB’s vice-president visits Cameroon, we learn. 

"(...) The €12 million provided by the EIB and the European Union will allow the CBC to grant new loans to the private sector through its branches throughout the country. Thanks to the strong cooperation between the Commercial Bank and EIB financial experts over the past months, Cameroonian businesses will be able to access longer-term loans, which are essential for their growth in this crisis period," said Léandre Djummo, CBC's Director-General. 

"This financing is essential to stimulate investment, create jobs and accelerate the country's post-pandemic recovery. The new agreement reached today illustrates the alliance between Team Europe and African partners to defeat Covid-19 and help businesses create jobs and prosper," said Ambroise Fayolle, EIB Vice President. 

According to the EIB, this partnership with the CBC is part of the international bank's rapid response to build economic resilience amid the pandemic in Africa. It will mainly support business investments in the manufacturing, agricultural, tourism, and commercial sectors.

This is the second initiative taken by the EIB in Cameroon to help businesses resist or recover from the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. Indeed, on November 17, 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic was still at its peak, the EIB and Société Générale Cameroon set a XAF10 billion credit line to provide financial support to SMEs with flexible conditions. 

(Business in Cameroon)