Gov’t partners CamCCUL to boost agricultural sector.

The five-year partnership was signed in Yaounde, Thursday. 

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Gabriel Mbairobe, signed on behalf of government while the General Manager of CamCCUL, Dr Tientchou Jonas, signed for the network of credit unions.

The ceremony was attended among others by PCRD National Coordinator, Nadiembe Emmanuel Ebune, and members of CamCCUL and its affiliates.

According to the ministry, the partnership is aimed at strengthening institutional synergy between the state and cooperative financial institutions, facilitating farmers, livestock breeders, and rural stakeholders’ access to financial services.

The deal, it was added, is also programmed to support the modernisation of agriculture by strengthening the technical, financial, and organisational capacities of local stakeholders and promoting financial inclusion particularly those concerning youth and women in rural areas.

The ministry said an effective execution of the requirements of the partnership is expected to among others improve agricultural productivity and income, facilitate the creation of decent jobs in rural areas and guarantee an increased contribution to national food security and the acceleration of development at the local levels. 

This, it was further detailed, will strengthen the penetration of banking institutions in rural areas.

Import substitution drive…

Minister Mbairobe said the partnership aligns with the Head of State’s goal of enhancing the import-substitution drive and the National Development Strategy, NDS30.

He said it also aligns with the national agricultural investment plan and the PCRD by facilitating the financial inclusion of producers and structuring rural funds which are all strategically designed to generate income and reduce poverty in rural areas.

Mbairobe said by signing the new partnership with CamCCUL, the ministry is taking the commitment to work through the PCRD in providing non-repayable financial support aimed at building the technical and institutional capacities of CamCCUL and its beneficiaries.

“Similarly, the ministry will be able to, through CAMCCUL, provide low-interest agricultural loans to the population in order to strengthen the rural microfinance sector,” Mbairobe said.

He added the assistance is aimed at improving credit management, risk management, the development of new financial products adapted to the rural context, financial education, and much more.

“The convention fits perfectly with the National Development Strategy 2020-2030, adopted as the medium-term planning framework document. This strategy encourages the structural transformation of the Cameroonian economy and the strengthening of sectors with high social and economic impact, based essentially on agriculture, which has been identified as the main pillar of this strategy,” he further stated.

He said it is “improving the access of rural populations to adapted financial services identified as an essential condition for increasing productivity, generating income, and reducing poverty in rural areas”, as targeted by goals one and two of the Sustainable Development Goals which seeks to eradicate hunger and reduce poverty. 

The minister challenged stakeholders involved in the partnership to prioritise transparency, the respect of mutual commitment, and work in compliance with standards governing microfinance institutions, including those of Central African Banking Commission, COBAC.

CamCCUL, PCRD to ensure success of deal

The General Manager of CamCCUL, Dr Tientchou Jonas, and the National Coordinator of PCRD, Emmanuel Ebune, in separate statements, vowed to ensure the smooth running of the partnership.

The GM of CamCCUL said the network of credit unions will use the partnership to drive its newly-introduced five-year restructuring project which has as one of its main priorities the provision of more assistances to rural areas to improve their agricultural projects and other areas.

“With this agreement, we are sure we will put a team in place, sensitize the various credit unions involved on the protocol agreement and participate in the financing of activities. Our team in charge of the agricultural sector will be following up its implementation,” Dr Tientchou stated.

The National Coordinator of the PCRD described the partnership as a timely initiative. He said as part of efforts to ensure the smooth running of the partnership, PCRD “will be on ground to see what they have been done in terms of providing finances to farmers and other aspects apart from agriculture”. 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3668 of Friday January 09, 2026