Where we work

South Asia

East and Southeast Asia

Latin America / Caribbean

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Sub-Saharan Africa
• Cameroon
• Ethiopia
• Ghana
• Nigeria
• Rwanda
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Grameen Foundation : Where we work : Sub-Saharan Africa : Cameroon

Cameroon

In Cameroon, rural communities account for 55 percent of the total population and 87 percent of the people living in poverty. With the country’s 10 commercial banks and 45 branches, as well as the majority of microfinance institutions (MFIs), located mostly in urban areas, most of the population has no access to formal financial services. 

The Need in Cameroon

• 40.2 percent of the population lives on less than $1 a day.
• 50.6 percent of the population lives on less than $2 a day.
• The life expectancy is 46 years.
• Health issues include malaria and AIDS
  
• 6.9 percent of the population aged 21-40 is HIV positive
  

Tontines, a traditional form of microfinance, have existed in Cameroon for more than a century, but a formal microfinance sector did not come into existence until 1963.  MFIs in Cameroon currently serve approximately 400,000 poor women, which represents only seven percent of the nation’s poor.
The modern microfinance sector is growing, but an estimated 90 percent of Cameroonians, predominantly women, still borrow from moneylenders and family members. Because many people do not have savings and there is very little credit available, additional funding is needed to help the MFIs expand into rural areas.

To address this need, Grameen Foundation plans to partner with MFIs within the next year to support the microfinance sector’s needs and expand outreach into the rural areas that house most of the nation’s poor. 

Grameen Foundation : Where we work : Sub-Saharan Africa : Cameroon