Major changes have taken place in the shareholding structure of Union Bank of Cameroon (UBC) with a stake of 54% of assets by the State of Cameroon. This reconfiguration of the share capital comes at the end of a recapitalization process started a few months ago, particularly in March, when the public authorities injected 17.8 billion FCFA ($ 30 million) to save this financial institution then under the threat from the Central African Banking Commission (COBAC) which at best planned to place it under provisional administration, if not, to purely and simply proceed with its liquidation by withdrawing all approvals.
“This Monday, November 22, 2021 in Douala, the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders was held. The agenda focused mainly on the update of the restructuring plan, which was recorded by the ratification of the exit of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) and the entry of the State of Cameroon up to 54% of the shareholding ”, specified the company thus formalizing the acquisition of participations by the State.
Despite the difficult environment reinforced by the coronavirus pandemic, the presentation of the accounts at the end of fiscal year 2020 confirmed overall growth in activities. The board of directors having noted an improvement in annual revenues of 9% compared to fiscal year 2019, despite the health context related to Covid-19. During this period, UBC achieved a “record” growth of 18% in deposits compared to the previous fiscal year, while the net profit was 1.5 billion FCFA, or about 2.7 million dollars.
For the moment, no precision on the total amount of the transaction even if, it is indicated, the repurchase of the liability consisting of bad debts will be recovered by the Debt Collection Company (SRC) while the assets will be collected. ‘subject to management following the example of banking structures placed under provisional administration having benefited from a public financial contribution. Which foresees, in all likelihood, changes in social officials.
It should be noted that the shares bought back by the State were entirely held by the pan-African banking group Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, which had taken control of UBC in 2010, by buying the shares of the Nigerian group Oceanic.
