Articulations entre banques commerciales et institutions de microfinance en Afrique subsaharienne: cas du Cameroun[Articulations between commercial banks and microfinance institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa: the case of Cameroon]

In this article, we evaluate, from the point of view of banks, the potential of articulations between commercial banks and microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Cameroun in terms of financing of the rural and the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Furthermore, we seek to define the best form of partnership between the two types of institutions. The results obtained suggest that the articulations between banks and MFIs can potentially be beneficial to all stakeholders (banks, MFIs but also recipients). This study also highlights the fact that these articulations can be even more beneficial if national commercial banks, under the Cameroonian law in our case, participate rather than branches of foreign banking groups. Indeed, our research reveals that through these partnerships, from their cultural proximity and their propensity to take more risks, national commercial banks will more likely offer either directly or indirectly (through MFIs) more adapted financial products and services to both the rural and the MSMEs’ segments. The question of knowing if a better form of partnership between commercial banks and MFIs exists, results suggest that there is no better form of partnership as such; that the best form depends on the MFI’s development stage and that in any case this partnership should privilege a national commercial bank rather than a branch of a foreign bank. Even if the foreign banks’ contest might be necessary at a given stage of the process, the results make it also possible to consider a new model of interactions implying Microfinance investment vehicles and national commercial banks. This model would have the advantage to help mitigate risks that those vehicles perceive when deciding to directly invest in MFIs.