[ACCI-CAVIE] A partnership agreement was signed on 21 February 2023 in Douala, the economic capital of Cameroon, between Afriland First Bank and the Groupement des Transporteurs Terrestres du Cameroun (GTTC).

Under this agreement with the banking giant in Cameroon, GTTC members will be able to acquire vehicles on flexible terms. The land transport sector represents 35% of Afriland’s leasing portfolio. All things that makes objective, the partnership agreement signed with Afriland First Bank.

This will henceforth exempt the economic actors of the land transport sector from the hassles encountered in renewing their vehicle fleets. Also, the sector benefits from now on, from the support of the group Afriland First Bank (AFB). The agreement was signed by Youssoufa Bouba, deputy general manager of AFB, and the national president of the GTTC, Ibrahima Yaya. 

Indeed, Afriland First Bank offers facilities to the GTTC, within the framework of leasing. This model is its main mechanism for financing productive and rolling stock.

According to the agreement signed between the two parties, the facilities from which the transporters will benefit are of several kinds.  They range from preferential rates to repayment terms, whose added value is that they are long enough, thus avoiding asphyxiation to members of the GTTC. The signing of the agreement was welcomed with great joy and enthusiasm by the economic actors of land transport, given the many difficulties encountered to renew their rolling stock. “It is fabulous for our sector because it will allow us to renew our fleets which are very old. The price of transport is not regulated. When you have, for example, a private individual who has access to second-hand trucks, he lowers the price in order to win contracts and competition becomes tough. This signature with Afriland will allow us to set the record straight,” said Soreya Mamadou, GTTC regional president for the Littoral.

It should be noted that the transport sector occupies an important part in financing through leasing at Afriland First Bank. This bank is one of the pioneers of this financing mechanism in Cameroon, and claims at the end of December 2022, an outstanding leasing carried by the transport sector to 25 billion CFA francs, on a total envelope of the entire portfolio of sectors financed, and evaluated at 72 billion CFA francs, or about 35%.

For all intents and purposes, it was in 2002 that Afriland First Bank Group, through its subsidiary Africa Leasing Company (ALC) launched leasing on the Cameroonian market, aimed at individuals and companies. This financing technique allows the First Bank customer to acquire a material asset, generally equipment, appliances, rolling stock (tractor, semi-trailer, etc.), in return for the payment of a permanent rent, before taking possession of the asset at the end of the term. Afriland has already been the leader in this field in Cameroon for three years, with 56% of shares as of November 30, 2022. With this in mind, the GTTC intends to take over the portfolios of its defaulting members.

With the partnership agreement signed last Tuesday with Afriland First Bank, the land transport sector will be able to live a new era, with rolling stock that will now be acquired with flexibility.

By Camer & LB