According to data from the Central Bank of Congo, the microfinance sector in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) includes 102 microfinance institutions (MFIs), of which 82 are savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOs) and 20 are organized as for-profit firms, such as limited liability companies. These institutions service a total of 2.1 million accounts as of December 2018, an increase of 8.7 percent compared to 2017. Over the same year, their total balance sheet grew 7.1 percent to the CDF-equivalent of USD 251 million.
The savings collected by MFIs amounted to the CDF-equivalent of USD 198 million as of 2018, an increase of 12.7 percent compared to 2017. Also during 2018, total outstanding loans in the sector increased by 11.8 percent to USD 136 million. Meanwhile the 30-day portfolio-at-risk ratio fell from 31.5 percent to 28.2 percent. When calculated on a global aged portfolio balance basis, this rate is 10.8 percent.
Regarding net results, the microfinance sector achieved a profit of USD 3.6 million after a loss of USD 11.6 million a year earlier. At the same time, operational self-sufficiency rose to 104 percent from 83 percent.
Despite this positive news, equity capital deteriorated, especially among mutual structures. In fact, SACCOs experienced a decline of 2.9 percent. The 66-member Association Professionelle des Cooperatives d’Epargne et de Crédit (APROCEC) of DRC hereby calls on technical and financial partners to support the digitization of SACCOs, which have remained on the sidelines as the sector has developed. Without support, APROCEC fears SACCOs may disappear from our country.
Additional performance indicators for the microfinance sector in DRC for 2018 include:
- Solvency: -6.8 percent
- Immediate liquidity ratio: 45 percent
- Idle cash rate: 28 percent
- Portfolio return: 2.5 percent
- Outstanding credit rate: 57 percent
- Fixed asset rate: 9.3 percent
Data on 2019 performance is not expected to be available until 2021.
This piece was written by guest contributor André Nkusu Zinkatu, the General Secretary of APROCEC.
Sources and Additional Resources
Central Bank of the Congo annual report on microfinance, 2018
http://microfinance.bcc.cd/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Rapport-d-activites-de-la-Microfinance-2018.pdf
Central Bank of the Congo microfinance website
http://microfinance.bcc.cd/
Central Bank of the Congo homepage
http://www.bcc.cd/
APROCEC homepage
http://www.aprocec.cd
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