The mobile market in Cameroon is booming yet only a third of adults have bank accounts. This presents a major opportunity for UNCDF to support the expansion of Digital Financial Services (DFS) by tapping into the existing mobile infrastructure. The hope is that DFS can enable more people to access formal financial services.

Financial inclusion in Cameroon: 2 key takeaways

1: Approximately 35% of adults have bank accounts

In Cameroon, only 35% of adults had a bank account in 2017 (Findex, World Bank). Several barriers hinder women's financial and digital inclusion, including:

• The cost of accessing the internet, which remains high

• Insufficient proximity of financial institutions

• The lack of financial education and digital skills of the least educated segments of the population

• Limited possession of identity documents by rural Cameroonians, among others

2. Mobile phone usage is widespread

However, mobile phone usage is booming in Cameroon. The country has a mobile population coverage rate (2G) of almost 96% (85% for 3G and 53% for 4G). It has a unique subscriber rate of 56.7% (GSMA Mobile Connectivity Index 2019, total population). Consequently, Digital Financial Services (DFS) have high development potential in Cameroon.

Moreover, according to data from the Cameroon National Economic and Financial Committee 2019 annual report (the most recent data available at time of publication), at the end of 2018, 6.18 million mobile money accounts were registered. Of these accounts, 81% were active, translating to approximately 346 active accounts per 1,000 adults.

How UNCDF Policy Accelerator is supporting financial inclusion in Cameroon

Research, conversation, analysis

April 2020 — December 2020

The UNCDF Policy Accelerator team began its activities in Cameroon in April 2020 with a diagnostic study to identify regulatory barriers to the expansion of NFS in the country and across the CEMAC region (Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa).

The UNCDF team then invited DFS stakeholders to participate in a series of interviews with the aim of determining the steps necessary to achieve a legal and institutional environment conducive to the development of inclusive financial services. Subsequently, the preliminary results were presented to representatives of the Bank of West African States (BEAC) in December 2020.

The results of the diagnostic study in Cameroon reveal, among other things:

• Financial products and services are insufficiently adapted to the needs of different segments of the population, in particular women and the most disadvantaged populations

• There is a lack of Islamic financial products

• There is a lack of communication on good consumer protection practices

• There is a need to adapt the regulatory framework in order to provide a foundation for FinTechs willing to propose solutions to facilitate the marketing of new digital savings, credit and insurance products

In this context, UNCDF is committed to continuing our efforts to accelerate financial inclusion in Cameroon through several initiatives.

Consultative panel, Regional Financial Inclusion Strategy

March 2021 — present

First, in March 2021, UNCDF established an Advisory Panel on "Women and Digital Financial Services".

The Panel's work resulted in the development of 23 proposals to improve women's financial inclusion in the six CEMAC countries. These 23 proposals were presented to the CEMAC regulators in June 2021 and will be foundation for our conversations with national regulators in Cameroon toward the end of 2021.

In parallel, UNCDF we advocated to the Ministry of Finance of Cameroon for the inclusion of recommendations by the Advisory Panel in their updates to the National Strategy for Inclusive Finance framework. We believe the Panel’s recommendations will strengthen the gender-related strategy and activities when Cameroon’s National Inclusive Finance Strategy is implemented.

Next steps

Public-Private-Civil Society Dialogues

Late 2021

In line with the recommendations from our diagnostic study, we plan to launch a series of Public-Private-Civil Society Dialogues with Cameroonian policymakers and stakeholders in the digital finance ecosystem in the last quarter of 2021.

This series of meetings will create the necessary partnerships to implement recommendations from the Advisory Panel and from our initial internal diagnostic as part of planned updates to Cameroon’s regulatory framework. The ultimate goal is ensuring more people, especially women and those otherwise excluded from formal financial services, have access to Digital Financial Services (DFS) and are included in the digital economy.

Contact

If you wish to contribute to UNCDF's efforts to increase financial inclusion in Cameroon, please contact us.

Authors

Olivia-Kelly Lonkeu

Alexis Ditkowsky