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\u2013 Microfinance\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
![\"personne-recevant-nourriture-rue\"](\"https:\/\/gabon.yearbook-media.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/elementor\/thumbs\/personne-recevant-nourriture-rue-scaled-e1719516435702-revtw9htz8bnlyp3ocnhezcjefgl34qhjl0ywep24o.jpg\" "\\"person-receiving-food-street\\"")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\tFour main institutions (FINAM, LOXIA, EDG, and Express-Union) alone account for nearly 911,000 clients in the sector. In total, 20 microfinance institutions (MFIs) have been licensed since 2022.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t \t\t Among these microfinance institutions are seven savings and credit cooperatives (operating within a network) and thirteen public limited companies. These include, among others, the African Microproject Finance Company (FINAM), Loxia, La R\u00e9gionale, Cofina, Salam Financial and Exchanges (SFE), and Atlantique Microfinance for Africa (Amifa).<\/p>\n According to figures compiled by the Ministry of Economy and Recovery, the microfinance sector experienced a simultaneous increase in both resources and employment during the first nine months of 2021. This analysis focuses primarily on eleven institutions, eight of which are public limited companies.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t \t\t The momentum generated by the creation of new branches has resulted in an increase in the customer base. Indeed, the sector recorded a 12.91% increase in its customer base, rising from 233,649 users at the end of September 2020 to 263,926 customers in the same period of 2021. At the end of September 2021, the equity of microfinance institutions (MFIs) decreased by 201% to 8.4 billion FCFA, compared to 10.5 billion FCFA in 2020, following the deterioration of the financial situation of three second-category MFIs. However, analysis of intermediation indicators reveals an improvement in activity, reflecting increased access to financial services for the population. Indeed, deposits collected amounted to 72.3 billion FCFA, up by nearly 16.01%, compared to 62.4 billion FCFA in 2020. This development is mainly due to the commercial performance of the sector leaders.<\/span><\/p>\n Analysis by type of deposits reveals a preponderance of demand deposits which represent approximately 75% of the total outstanding amount.<\/p>\n In addition, customer loans have increased from nearly 30% to 70.4 billion FCFA, correlated with the increase in the banking rate and the efforts to support the operating needs of small and medium-sized enterprises.<\/p>\n At the end of 2021, the BGFIBank Group became a shareholder in Financi\u00e8re Africaine de Micro-Projets (Finam), aiming to propel Gabon's first second-tier microfinance institution to become "the African benchmark in its sector" in the coming years. BGFIBank's investment is expected to enable Finam to better structure and develop its operations, particularly its expansion plan, which is slated to extend beyond national borders. With total assets exceeding 39 billion FCFA in 2020, Finam has a share capital of 3 billion FCFA and over 8 billion FCFA in equity. It operates throughout the country via a network of 18 branches.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t