6 Cameroonian banks among top 200 African banks rating

According to the weekly « Jeune Afrique » magazine, Cameroon’s banks did not do so well in 2015. The country witnessed a drop from seven banks among the first 200 in the African continent in 2014 to six. Even the performances of the best six have witnessed considerable drops.

The classification is done on basis of business turnover. The first Cameroonian bank comes 78th on the continent and second at the sub-regional level. Afriland First Group, like in 2014, took the lead in Cameroon’s banking landscape in 2015. The bank’s position has however dropped to 78 in 2015, from 63 in 2014.

The second Cameroonian bank is Afriland First Bank, occupying the 151st position as against 137th in 2014. Occupying the third position at the continental level is Société Général Cameroun, dropping from position 144 in 2014 to 154 in 2015.

The Banque International pour l’Epargne et le Crédit (BICEC) has also fallen short in performance. Rated 158 in 2015, it was 148 in 2014. The Société Commerciale de Banque (SCB) Cameroun and Ecobank Cameroun are the last Cameroonian banks to feature on the rating, classified 197 in 2015 against 183 in 2014 and 199 in 2014 against 189 in 2015 respectively.

Central Africa Stagnates

Like its growth rate, the banking sector in Central Africa is not making much progress “Jeune Afrique” regrets that financial institutions in the sub-region are witnessing a general decline in performance by 6 per cent, sequel to the unsustainable rate of economic growth.

The situation is blamed on the non-competitiveness of the Franc CFA to the Dollar, whose drop is reported at 9.8 per cent. Afriland First Group, second among first 50 in the sub-region, has seen its business turnover declined by 4.9 per cent in spite of an increase in revenue.

The BGFI Bank, top on the chart of the best 50 is stagnating, with revenue moribund, evaluated at 5 per cent and turnover in Franc CFA declining at +1.8 per cent. Like in 2014, only 13 banks in Central Africa are part of the continental rating this year.

The subregion's performance is mediocre, with total business turnover evaluated at 1.74, after East Africa whose proceeds are 4.35 per cent. Ten Cameroonian banks feature among the first 30 of the top 50 of the region.

Afriland First Group, Afriland First Bank and Société Général Cameroun, are the first three Cameroonian banks while United Bank for Africa, Standard Chartered Bank Africa and BGFI Bank Cameroun, least on the Cameroon rating, though their performances are far better than other banks in the sub-region.