8, November 2024
Biya regime, Société Générale, Allianz lose CFA5 Billion in YUP mobile money collapse 0
Shareholders in YUP Cameroon, a mobile payment subsidiary of Société Générale, have lost nearly $8 million (around CFA4.8 billion) as the company shut down in 2022, according to a liquidation notice disclosed by Africa Intelligence. Société Générale Cameroon held over 80% of the company, while other shareholders included the State of Cameroon and Allianz Cameroon, though their stakes weren’t specified.
On March 1, 2022, Nicolas Pichou, CEO of Société Générale Cameroon, informed employees of YUP’s closure. Launched in 2017 across seven African countries Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Guinea, Ghana, and Madagascar—the platform struggled to maintain profitability despite its reach. Pichou explained that despite efforts to expand market share and enhance customer experience, YUP could not create a viable model, and market conditions made its continuation unsustainable.
Following the announcement, YUP set a three-month deadline from March 15, 2022, to reimburse customer deposits. During an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting on December 29, 2023, in Douala, YUP entered liquidation, with financial expert Manfred Penda appointed as liquidator.
YUP’s Mobile Market Struggle: 96% of Accounts Remained Inactive
Despite five years of effort in Cameroon’s dynamic mobile money market, YUP’s offering failed to achieve profitability. The dominant positions of established operators, MTN and Orange, posed a significant challenge. These two companies, having entered the market nearly a decade before YUP, established extensive networks with their MTN Mobile Money and Orange Money services, leaving little room for new players.
A 2022 report from the Bank of Central African States (BEAC) highlights the scale of YUP’s struggle. By the time it shut down in March 2022, YUP Cameroon had attracted 689,071 mobile money customers,pale in comparison to the more than 21 million accounts registered in Cameroon that year. Even more telling, only 22,332 of YUP’s accounts were active, meaning that over 96% of accounts saw little to no use after their initial setup.
Meanwhile, Orange and MTN continue to vie for dominance. In 2021, Orange Cameroon claimed 70% of the mobile money market with 10 million accounts and over 100,000 business partners. However, MTN Cameroon’s CEO, Mitwa Ng’ambi, countered this, stating that MTN’s Mobile Money Corporation now boasts the country’s largest active user base, solidifying its leadership in mobile financial services.
Source: Business in Cameroon
13, November 2024
Bank loans in Cameroon hit record CFA5,607 bn in H1 2024, up 3.75% 0
Bank lending in Cameroon reached a record CFA5,607 billion between December 2023 and June 2024, representing a 3.75% increase compared to the previous six months. This data comes from the regulatory reports of the Collection, Processing, and Feedback System for Banks and Financial Institutions (Cerber), established by the Bank of Central African States (BEAC) and Cameroon’s National Economic and Financial Committee (CNEF).
Afriland First Bank (AFB), owned by Cameroonian billionaire Paul Fokam Kammogne, led the market with CFA1,280.5 billion in loans over the period. Right behind AFB was Société Générale Cameroun (SGC), a subsidiary of the French Société Générale group, which issued CFA771.3 billion in credit.
Banque Atlantique Cameroun (BAC), a branch of the Ivorian Atlantic Financial Group (AFG), took the third position, issuing CFA538.2 billion in loans. Société Commerciale de Banque (SCB) Cameroun, owned by Morocco’s Attijariwafa group, followed with CFA521.4 billion, while Commercial Bank Cameroun (CBC) completed the top five with CFA489.9 billion in loans.
Other notable players included Bicec, a part of Morocco’s Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP), which loaned out CFA455 billion; BGFI, owned by Gabon’s BGFI Group, at CFA441 billion; CCA Bank, a local Cameroonian institution, with CFA308 billion; UBA, the Nigerian UBA Group’s subsidiary, providing CFA265 billion; and Ecobank, a pan-African group, lending CFA167 billion.
The remaining eight banks—Citibank, NFC-Bank, Standard Bank, Bange Bank, La Régionale Bank, UBC, BC-PME, and Access Bank—collectively issued over CFA370 billion in loans.
The credit market grew by 3.75% in the first half of the year, with AFB leading the growth at 3.14%, as the only bank to lend over CFA1,000 billion. Newer players in the market, like Equatorial Guinea’s Bange Bank and Nigeria’s Access Bank, posted the highest growth rates of 73.28% and 26.43%, respectively. Financial expert Danny Dior Ngongang noted, “It’s expected for these banks to grow rapidly, as they are working to establish themselves and catch up.”
Source: Business in Cameroon