A Legal Analysis of the Challenges in Obtaining Bank Credits by New SMES in Cameroon

Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are increasingly seen as playing important role in the economies of many countries. They enhance economic growth in an economy together with all the benefits that come with such growth. Thus, governments throughout the world focus on the development of the SMEs sector to promote economic growth. SMEs account for 62% of permanent employees and 31% of turnover before tax of all enterprises in Cameroon. New SMEs form the basis from which an economy can expand and stimulate accelerated socio-economic growth and development including job creation. Despite these enormous contributions of SMSs enterprises, the creation and promotion of new SMEs is relatively low due to financial constraints. Therefore, there is the need to examine the challenges in obtaining bank loans by new SMEs. To achieve the said objective, we employed a content analysis approach. In this vein, we made some salient proposals to bridge the gap between theory and practice in enhancing new SMEs in Cameroon.