On 25 January 2023, a delegation from Cameroon, led by experts from the World Bank, was received at the headquarters of the SOTUGAR to discuss the implementation of a guarantee scheme for financing SMEs.  Executives from SOTUGAR, led by Mr. Tahar Ben Hatira, Chairman and Managing Director of the Company, took this opportunity to give an historical account of the Company, founded in 2003 and the progress made since with the support of the European Union (EU). The meeting also provided an opportunity to present the guarantee schemes managed by the Company, in particular the Guarantee Fund for Financing provided to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (FGPME), launched at its inception, and the “Dhamen Express” guarantee mechanism launched in June 2022, with the support of the World Bank and USAID.

The Cameroonian delegation, which had previously visited the Moroccan guarantee company Tamwilcom, was accompanied by Ms. Laurence Jacquart, and Mr. Besong-Joseph Neiville Agbor, respectively financial expert and principal secretary of the financial sector of the World Bank, was composed of:

• Asfor Cho Emmanuel, First Assistant to the Director of the Central Bank of Cameroon,
• Bobbo Namoudou, Head of the Research and Forecasting Department at the Ministry of SMEs,
• Kam Pierre, Secretary General of the Professional Association of Credit Institutions,
• Mebenga Menam, Head of the Secretariat of the National Economic and Financial Committee,
• Demenou Ange Patrick, Deputy Director of Finance and Credit, Ministry of Finance.