Action Finance d'Afrique (AFA) or in short AFA, is a category 1 microfinance institution with a board of directors. Approval No. 00181/MINFI of 18 May 2002. AFA offers financial services (granting of consumer and school loans, financing of public markets ....) and the collection of savings from its members. AFA also targets the low-income population in the informal and formal sectors. Priority is given to women and young entrepreneurs of very small enterprises (VSEs) and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The ultimate goal of this approach is to effectively fight poverty and support entrepreneurial actions initiated by vulnerable groups.
AFA offers several types of current accounts for different segments of the population. Thus we have accounts such as simple current accounts, salary, civil servants, company, associations which can give access to consumer credit.
Our savings accounts allow small traders, office workers and civil servants to save for the unexpected. Depending on the type of savings account, they can also benefit from consumer or school loans for their children.
As a member of AFA, a client can, subject to the approval of the credit committee, receive different types of credit. These can be consumer credits as well as advances for public procurement. AFA has specially created a group credit program for the informal sector.
AFA offers other services in partnership with other financial institutions. A customer can buy and recharge his UBA VISA card from us, subscribe to micro-insurance, make national and international transfers via Western Union and even exchange currency.
It is a blocked account that pays interest over a period of time agreed with the client. This product is intended for all types of customers because it allows them to save daily on a regular basis and generate additional income on the one hand and on the other hand it also allows the customer to build up capital to finance a mini project. Beyond the financial aspect, AFA accompanies you until the completion of your project.
AFA creates groups of small traders selected according to pre-defined criteria. The groups receive various training courses on managing their finances before being financed for their working capital needs. Funding is provided over a number of periods and assiduous groups can benefit from additional credit if required. The program includes a clause to develop a savings culture.
In the course of our group lending programme, we became aware of certain imperfections, usually due to the behaviour of the borrower. So with the little data we were able to collect on the groups financed between 2017 - 18, we were able to design a first draft of a probability default detection model. We are currently looking for grants to complete our study.
Ms. KAMGA Marie Elise is currently the CEO of the Cameroonian microfinance institution Action Finance d'Afrique (AFA) which she co-founded in November 2014. In addition, since 1997, She is a promoter of several companies with experience in the sale and distribution of computer equipment, office supplies and accessories, general trade and various services in the Cameroonian administration. Indeed, she has been integrated in the business world for more than 25 years both in Cameroon as well as abroad. Thanks to her experience as a businesswoman, she has created an association UNIFAC which promotes women's leadership in business and has coached women and young entrepreneurs in the management of their small businesses. In doing so, she found that the main obstacle to the activities of women and young entrepreneurs is the lack of financial education. Aware of this problem and having experienced the same difficulties in her early days, she gave herself the life's goal to make a significant contribution to the financial inclusion of women and young entrepreneurs. So she went back to school and obtained a master's degree in financial institution management, which later led to the creation of AFA. Since the beginning of 2021, she has been a member of an advisory panel: UNCDF POLICY ACCERATOR which aims to expand access to digital access to digital financial services (DFS) worldwide.
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Mr. PIDJOU Mael is currently Vice-Chairman of the AFA Board of Directors, but also holds the role of Risk Manager and Credit Committee. He was one of the contributors to the development of the draft default prediction model for informal sector borrowers. Through this work, he was selected among 100 young leaders of tomorrow from around the world to participate in the St. Gallen Symposium at the prestigious Swiss University of St. Gallen. In parallel, he is currently working in Japan for an asset management company with a focus on alternative investment funds. There he performed quantitative analysis and risk management of client portfolios. Mael holds an engineering degree from Arts Et Métiers ParisTech in France and a Master of Engineering from Tokyo University of Technology. The interview link from St. Gallen below will give you an idea of AFA's vision.
ST. GALLEN SYMPOSIUMThe project was born out of the need to finance entrepreneurs in the informal sector who, for the most part, do not have access to credit in financial institutions due to lack of collateral and therefore turn to traditional loan-sharking solutions. Since 2016, based on the methodology developed by Mohammad Yunus, a precursor of microfinance, we have started to experiment with different group lending possibilities. This led to the creation of our MUSO (Mutual Solidarity) program where selected traders receive financial education followed by working capital financing. Regular members of the program are eligible for additional funding.
