Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
On June 15, 2015, Afriland First Bank Managing Director, Alphonse Nafack, and China Development Bank (CDB) Board Chairman, Hu Huaibang, signed a framework agreement in which CDB agreed in principle to issue an EUR 39.9 million loan to Afriland First Bank for the purposes of on-lending to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). CDB and Afriland First Bank subsequently signed an EUR 60 million loan agreement in 2015. The borrowing terms of the loan are unknown.
Staff comments
1. Afriland First Bank, which is also known as CCEI Bank and CCEIBank, is a predominantly Cameroonian-capitalized banking institution. it is a full-service bank in Cameroon, with subsidiaries in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Liberia, South Sudan, São Tomé and Príncipe and Zambia. The bank was founded in Yaoundé in 1987 under the name of Caisse Commune d'Epargne et d'Investissement. It is the largest financial services group in Cameroon. 2. There is some suggestive evidence that the loan to Afriland First Bank financially underperformed vis-a-vis the original expectations of the lender. This issue warrants further investigation. See https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/spr8mdsig1og3pnzcj9c8/INFORME_ESTADO_DE_LOS_TRABAJOS_CON_BCD.pdf?rlkey=gavaa3s3fjw3qhtqp4onlqm3y&dl=0