AfDB approves €40 million trade finance package for AFG Bank Cameroon

The African Development Bank has approved a €40 million financing package for AFG Bank Cameroon to expand access to trade finance for small and medium-sized enterprises, Trade Finance Global reported. Approved on 22 October, the facility combines lending with a guarantee intended to support trade transactions amid heightened country risk.

The package includes a €30 million credit line with a three-and-a-half-year term and a three-year grace period. A separate €10 million transaction guarantee will run for five years. Half of the credit line is reserved for SMEs, with 30% of that allocation directed towards enterprises owned by women or young people.

The approval comes against a backdrop of constrained access to trade finance across Africa. According to the AfDB’s 2025 Trade Finance Report, cited by Trade Finance Global, banks rejected 37% of applications that year. The development bank estimated that, without approximately $32 billion of development finance intervention across the continent, Africa’s trade finance shortfall would have surpassed $100 billion.

Trade Finance Global also linked the guarantee to risks highlighted by Fitch’s downgrade of Cameroon’s long-term rating to B- from B on 16 October, days before the facility was approved. Fitch cited uncertainty over succession and pointed to the continued vacancy of a vice-presidential position established through constitutional reform in April. The report also said Fitch flagged the absence of a new IMF agreement for Cameroon in 2026.

The AfDB introduced its transaction guarantee instrument in 2021. It covers several forms of trade finance, including confirmed letters of credit, endorsed bills of exchange, promissory notes and trade loans. Trade Finance Global described the guarantee for AFG Bank Cameroon as designed to absorb the country risk outlined in its report.

AFG already operates in Cameroon and Gabon. Separately, the group is preparing to acquire Chad’s Banque de l’Habitat, although that transaction remains subject to regulatory approval, according to Trade Finance Global.