Training, environment, health … The Cameroonian microfinance institution not only encourages good practices in corporate social responsibility (CSR) at its customers, it also implements them within it.

Recessed at the back of a row of five houses, the carpentry and tapestry workshop located in the Oyom-Abang district of Yaounde is invaded by seats ready to be clothed.

“All you see there is the fruit of LTN Cameroon,” says Bob Furniture boss – who employs five people – by designating his area of ​​over 1,000 m2. Fifteen years ago, he borrowed 1.5 million F CFA (about 2,300 euros); today, the total credits granted to it amount to 12 million CFA francs.

The establishment, a subsidiary of LTN International, grants microcredits – ranging from 100,000 CFA to 15 million CFA francs – to very small companies facing financing difficulties. “The goal is to bring them to the SME stage. Unlike other microfinance companies, we do not provide credit but lines of credit, “says managing director Jean Roger Zombo.

An Uncommon Style

The microfinance specialist has already distributed more than 204 billion CFA francs to donut sellers, bayam sellam (who, they offer fresh products), fashion designers, artisans, traders, transporters …, which constitute nearly three-quarters of its 21,000 customers.

LTN is distinguished from the competition by its single monthly interest rate of 1.5% (or 18% annually) regardless of the amount of the loan granted. Its guarantee policy also departs from the habits of the sector. Instead of the traditional land title or building, LTN put on the TV, the appliance, the vehicle, in short: “objects with symbolic value for the family, and whose loss is likely to represent a social pressure on the customer, “according to his boss.

There is a desire to promote socially responsible practices

For two years, LTN has been expanding its interventions in rural areas. A movement that is accompanied by training in agriculture, livestock and accounting. Here again, the approach reflects the desire to promote socially responsible practices. “The rate of use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides is very high in the Western region and handling, risky,” says Jean Roger Zombo. We try to orient producers towards the use of organic alternative fertilizers. ”

LTN’s ethical approach also benefits his associates. Despite its small size, the establishment has affiliated its 324 employees to the National Social Insurance Fund (CNPS), and they also benefit from a mutual. Their salaries are aligned on the grid of the collective banking agreement and, in addition to a thirteenth month, the best performing employees receive bonuses financed through a levy of 5% on the gross annual result of the company.

Thanks to a partnership with Cr�dit Foncier du Cameroun, 5% of employees have access to subsidized loans for the purchase of land and the construction of housing. And in order to allow the LTN to gain in competitiveness, two executives are trained each year at the Technical Banking Institute (ITB) in Paris, while loan officers take microfinance courses in the local subsidiary of the French establishment.

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