Less than a month after coming under state ownership, General Bank of Cameroon is preparing to increase its share capital as part of its post-acquisition restructuring.<\/p>\n
The proposal is on the agenda of a shareholders’ meeting scheduled for June 5, 2026, in Douala, according to a notice reviewed by Business in Cameroon. Formerly known as Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 G\u00e9n\u00e9rale Cameroun, the bank was renamed General Bank of Cameroon after the Cameroonian government acquired the stake held by French banking group Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 G\u00e9n\u00e9rale. The transaction was completed on May 12, 2026.<\/p>\n
Shareholders will be asked to approve a capital increase and amendments to the bank’s bylaws, two measures that form part of the transformation process launched following the takeover.<\/p>\n
The planned operation is largely driven by regulatory requirements. Under new rules adopted by the Central African Banking Commission (COBAC), banks operating within the CEMAC region must now maintain a minimum share capital of CFA25 billion. According to the bank’s previous corporate records, Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 G\u00e9n\u00e9rale Cameroun’s share capital stood at CFA12.5 billion, only half the new regulatory threshold.<\/p>\n
The proposed increase is therefore expected to help General Bank of Cameroon move closer to compliance with the new prudential standards. No details have yet been released regarding the size of the operation, how it will be structured, or whether new investors could participate.<\/p>\n
The capital increase comes amid a major shift in the bank’s ownership. The Cameroonian government acquired the 58.08% stake previously held by Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 G\u00e9n\u00e9rale for an estimated CFA129 billion. The transaction increased the state’s ownership to 83.68%, making it the bank’s dominant shareholder.<\/p>\n
Authorities described the acquisition as a transitional measure designed to ensure business continuity following Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 G\u00e9n\u00e9rale’s exit from the market. The government also indicated that new strategic investors could eventually be brought into the capital structure. Against that backdrop, the planned capital increase could represent one of the first steps in reshaping the bank’s shareholder base and long-term strategy.<\/p>\n
The June 5 meeting will also review the bank’s 2025 financial statements, profit allocation proposals, and several governance matters. Shareholders will notably be asked to acknowledge the appointment of a new permanent representative for SanlamAllianz Cameroun Assurances SA. For General Bank of Cameroon, the recapitalization effort will be closely watched. Beyond regulatory compliance, it will provide an early indication of how the bank intends to finance its next phase of development under state control.<\/p>\n
A key question remains: whether the capital increase will be funded primarily by the government or serve as an entry point for future private investors.<\/p>\n
Amina Malloum<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Less than a month after coming under state ownership, General Bank of Cameroon is preparing to increase its…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29549,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12932],"tags":[13379,13380,845,16299,1071,21445,13382,12955,2512],"class_list":["post-29548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-societe-generale","tag-bank","tag-cameroon","tag-capital","tag-generale","tag-government","tag-increase","tag-societe","tag-societe-generale","tag-the"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29548"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29548\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}