For valuable support to State of Cameroon: Biya decorates outgoing Société Générale MD, Mbaye Ndiaye.

The superscale banking executive was decorated on behalf of the Head of State by the Minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motaze. This was at the residence of the Littoral Region Governor on Friday October 18.

Speaking on the occasion, the MINFI boss stated he had received instructions from President Biya “to come here to Douala to deliver his message of satisfaction to Mrs Mareme Mbaye Ndiaye, who is leaving us after her promotion as Vice-President and Spokesperson for Banking Networks in Sub-Saharan Africa, AFS, of Société Générale”.

The awardee had been in charge of Société Générale Cameroun since December 2018. She was later charged with the duty of supervising the Central and East Africa Region, covering six countries including Cameroon, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Chad, Mozambique and Madagascar.

What the Head of State through his Finance Minister, especially noted was the fact that under her leadership, the banking institution particularly distinguished itself in supporting the State of Cameroon, through the issuance of public securities.

The MINFI boss said thanks to the collaboration, the level of mobilisation of financing from the Public Treasury from the financial and monetary markets has increased, thus making it possible to finance the State budget. 

“Several investment projects, particularly infrastructure, have been financed through this means. In the same vein and in the background of these actions, the financing of Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs has been boosted,” Minister Motaze said. 

He underlined that the growth was achieved within the framework of the “Growth with Africa ​​Initiative” launched in 2018.

Ensuring economic resilience amidst COVID-19

The President of the Republic saluted Société Générale Cameroun for setting up a credit line, amounting to 25 billion FCFA, intended for Cameroonian SMEs that were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Among the targeted objectives, the credit line was to intensify support for SMEs to jointly set up mechanisms for seeking financing for the benefit of the Cameroonian economy in general.

The Minister said “by this act, the bank confirmed its commitment to working for the development of Cameroon., the bank also stood out through maintaining the opening of agencies in the North West and South West regions despite the security context, participation in the restructuring of the bank debt of the National Refining Company, SONARA”. 

In recent months, and in her capacity as Member and Chair of the Audit Committee of the Central African Stock Exchange, BVMAC, Mareme Mbaye Ndiaye advocated in favour of Cameroon for greater visibility on international financial markets. 

Another brilliant action was her facilitating participation for the nation’s Eurobond buyback operation in Paris, which was a great success in 2021. Minister Motaze went on the congratulate the outgoing MD on behalf of the Head of State.

“For all these actions, particularly for the involvement of Société Générale Cameroun in the development of the financial sector, and therefore national economic development, the Head of State expresses to you, Madam Mbaye, his feeling of gratitude and at the same time conveys to you his warm congratulations for the brilliant promotion you have just received within your Bank,” the Finance boss said.

Awardee appreciate recognition 

Reacting to the honour, Mareme Mbaye Ndiaye said it was with warmth of heart and humility that she was receiving the recognition conferred to her by the president of the Republic.

“How can I not be honored with this recognition. It warms my heart but calls for humility. I thank you very much,” she said.

She did not fail to recognise all the support she got from the members of government in rendering services to the bank and the nation Cameroon. 

“Throughout my activities in Cameroon, you were always present, you and your team. The support, helped me achieved all the financial gains I brought to Cameroon through the bank. You all played a great role to my professional strides in Cameroon and it’s been crowned by the award from the, Head of State Paul Biya,” she said. 

As she looks forward to more success with her new role as Vice President of Network of Bankers in Africa under Société General, Ndiaye Mbaye said remains grateful to all who participated in her growth and has dedicate the medal to them.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3266 of Monday October 21, 2024