Society

Business financing: CCA Bank empowers women to make use of First Lady initiative.

by Macwalter Njapteh Refor
21 May 2025 15:58
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CCA Bank officials, participants at end of training

Close to 200 women have been empowered on various ways of accessing financing for their projects. This was during a one-day seminar organised in Yaounde on May 9, by leading financial institution, Crédit Communautaire d'Afrique, CCA Bank.

The hybrid seminar brought together participants from different parts of the country. It included clients, prospects, and entrepreneurs from both the formal and informal sectors.

It was organised as part of the second phase of CCA Bank’s emblematic initiative called First Lady. The First Lady programme is an initiative of the Bank which aims to support the financing of women-led projects.

Focused on women’s economic empowerment, the seminar was marked by panel discussions with CCA Bank top officials including: the General Manager, Margueritte Fonkwen Atanga; the Deputy General Manager, Tiwoda Alvine; Centre Regional Director, Blaise Njiki; Commercial Director, Ariane Nkemla; Deputy Director of Marketing, Stéphanie Tchouendong; Deputy Director of Retail and Private Banking, Madison Tatchoum Christelle; and Director Bodelen.

Speaking during the event, CCA Bank officials said the main objective of the seminar was to train participants on how to access financing, prepare a credit application file and the documents needed.

The officials also explained that the First Lady scheme was specifically designed to meet the practical needs of Cameroonian women operating in the formal and informal economy.

Women being trained on access to finances

The highly interactive session was marked by a PowerPoint presentation detailing the different stages of the programme, followed by question-and-answer session on the financing mechanisms offered.

According to the CCA Bank GM, the first step to joining the programme is opening a “First Lady” account. She said once the account is activated, projects are evaluated by a dedicated team capable of recommending adjustments to ensure viability.

Beyond banking support, she said beneficiaries also join the “First Lady” club, which provides access to several benefits such as interactive webinars, capacity-building workshops, targeted training on management, savings, and project development.

At the end of the seminar, some participants of the programme shared heartfelt testimonials, expressing gratitude to CCA Bank for creating a concrete, accessible, and solution-tailored scheme with flexible conditions and a favourable interest rate. The seminar also gave the participants the opportunity to adhere to the First Lady initiative.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3450 of Friday May 16, 2025