Cameroon CUs Overcoming Challenges, Growing Membership

When the 212 credit unions, the combined membership of 336 187 people and $ 240 million activities, the Cameroon Cooperative Credit Union League (CamCCUL) has a long history of success in the Central African country of Cameroon. Close agreement with the credit union philosophy and continued dedication to the service member helped a small business to flourish.

“Our credit union has the lowest U.S. $ 4.000 in cash and our biggest was 34 million dollars,” said Praxedes Banseka, CamCCUL a field supervisor on a recent visit to the World Council of Credit Unions and Credit Unions (WOCCU) of the seat. “We do not care how much money a credit union, provided that serves its members as well.”

CamCCUL was founded in 1968 and worked closely with WOCCU in the 1980s and 1990s to implement several programs funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. The programs provided technical assistance to CamCCUL that furthered its institutional and management development, created a central liquidity facility, started a small farmer production credit program, expanded credit unions to new areas and provided the first computerized systems to Cameroon’s movement. WOCCU’s programs in Cameroon ended in 1994, and CamCCUL became a direct WOCCU member in 2007.

“The Cameroonian credit union system represents one of the great success stories in WOCCU’s 40 years,” said David Grace, WOCCU’s senior vice president of association services. “Based on long-term and intensive development programs in the 1980s and early ’90s, a strong foundation was established. We’ve seen this in many other countries, and that positions credit unions for strong membership growth in subsequent years.” Cameroon’s credit union movement has taken off, growing from 78,000 credit union members in 1993 to more than four times as many members by 2010.

Cameroon has a history of staging some of the world’s largest International Credit Union Day celebrations, turning out more than 5,000 people to march in streets of local communities with thousands more observing. Collaborative radio and TV ads, cell phone programs and shared branching services have helped the movement grow and become even more successful.

Cameroon’s credit unions also face many challenges, including competition from banks and informal lending groups. While 95% of the credit unions that are computerized share a common platform that CamCCUL operates, there are still many small credit unions that are not computerized. “We don’t have the equipment or the infrastructure in place to provide Internet access in many areas,” Banseka said.

Banseka, the daughter of a Cameroon movement founder and a 13-year credit union veteran herself, is currently studying in the United States as part of the U.S. Department of State’s prestigious Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program. The 10-month program is designed to take future leaders from foreign countries and acquaint them with positive experiences in the United States. During this time she has completed an internship at Gabriels Community Credit Union in Lansing, Mich., and has plans to complete another internship in Minneapolis before returning to Cameroon.

“I really enjoyed my time in the United States’ Banseka said.” No matter where you are when you are with the credit union with fellow colleagues in your family, credit union family.”