16 •
The Lion King
• January - March 2017
country’s export earnings. European
Union, China, India and Nigeria are
the top four trade partners of the
country.
What are the likely investment
opportunities waiting to be explored
in Cameroun?
The likely investment opportunities
waiting to be explored in Cameroun
are mainly in the Construction, Mining,
Energy and Agriculture sectors.
What is the Camerounian banking
sector like?
The banking sector, which comprises
15 banks, is mostly concentrated with
the top three banks holding about
50% of the loans and deposits of the
market. The financial inclusion is quite
limited as the percentage of people
having a bank account is estimated
at 18% (3.3 million customers: 1.7
million for the microfinance institutions
and 1.6 million for the banks). The
Camerounian banks capitalization is
quite low and the industry average
NPL ratio (around 14%) can be
considered as high according to
international standards. The banks are
also dependent on sight deposits and
the sector is still evolving particularly
in terms of innovation of financial
products.
The recent surge of mobile money
services offered by mobile telephone
operators represents one of the key
areas of focus in order to promote
a better financial inclusion in the
country.
Talking about financial inclusion, what
are you doing about the huge and
untapped market out there waiting to
be banked?
Just like most African countries there
is a huge untapped market. We
are continually designing products
that meet the needs of particular
segments of the population (e.g.
VPPC, accounts for Muslims, U-star
for students, Freedom savings for
low income earners, U-care for
kids etc). Generally we try to take
into consideration the needs of the
different segments of customers in
designing and fine tuning our products
and services.
Win-win partnerships with different
stakeholders who would open up
doors to other markets are key. In this
light we consider partnerships with
MFI, Investment companies, telecom
(mobile money), digital marketing
companies etc. as the way forward.
Where do you see UBA Cameroun in
the next five years?
UBA Cameroun would be one of the
top three banks in the country across
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
such as deposit, loans, PBT, customer
base and quality service.
A strong focus on channel expansion,
strengthening our leadership in
electronic products coupled with
the continued improvement of the
organizational structure will provide
the bank a better position for growth.
We will equally focus on the proper
growth and diversification of both our
Balance Sheet and income sources
and rendition of superior quality service
to our clients – these will facilitate our
entrenchment as a major systemic
bank in the country.
We will utilize our various banking
channels around the country to
serve more customers, employ more
Camerounians and partner with many
businesses to provide value, growth
and contribute to the development
of the Camerounian economy and
createmore value for our shareholders.
Growing the Seed
