Gov't Puts Millions At Disposal of Small Businesses

Cassimanga I

A project to support the modernization of production tools has gone operations. The project which is intended to reduce costs of access to production equipment in order to enhance the competiveness of Small and Medium Seize Enterprises-SME as well as reduce employment rate in the country was launched recently in the North West Region. Launching the project a forth night ago, the Secretary General at the Governor’s office pointed out that the idea is that government providing favourable mechanism that will facilitate access by SME’s to equipment through leasing. He also in a bid to get the best out of Law No 2010/020 of 21 December 2010 organizing leasing in Cameroon, thereby reducing cost of funding facilities to enterprises, Government in collaboration with CAMLEASE, initiated a reflection which led to the production of mechanism to support the modernization of production tools. Leasing it should be noted is a funding process by which firms can obtain the use of production equipment such as furniture, computers, industrial machinery, commercial vehicles etc …..

In order to eligible for the funding, promoters of must be operating in the formal sector in the following sectors: Timber, agriculture, livestock, fisheries, mining, industry, tourism, cotton, textile and clothing. Besides that, any project requesting funding must show proves of return and must fulfill one of the following requirements, implementation of a transformation process, possibilities of creating employment opportunities for youths, and the contribution to the implementation of major structuring projects under subcontracting.

Minimum/ Maximum Amount

The amount to be granted to any SME/SMI shall range between 25 million to 250 million FCFA with an annual interest rate of less than 10%. The average term of the loan shall expand within a period of three years. SME/SMI’s own contribution shall be 15%. Promoters may submit their files to three financial institutions namely: SGBC, ALIOS-FINANCE and or Africa Leasing Company-ALC. The collection of application files, selection of files, provision of credit lines, collection of payments are ensured by the above mentioned financial institutions in accordance with COBAC’s prudence ratios.

Requirements

The lease contract shall contain the following documents:

·The contract proper (appellation of lessee and lessor, name of supplier, description of assets funded, price of the acquired assets from the lessor to be rendered to the lessee, the terms of the lease, number and period of tenancy, the value of the purchase option at the end of the leasing period, various clauses on the reciprocal obligations)

· The table of rent payments (including, where appropriate, the first adjusted payment) indicating the amount as distinct from the VAT;

· Possible additional gurantees

· The "good for supply" note signed by the lessor ad handed to the supplier,

· The delivery slip by the supplier signed by the lessor who accepts the requirement as it is

· Assignment of the insurance underwritten by the lessor

This project it should be noted is placed under the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Planning, Economy and Regional Development.

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