The COVID-19 crisis has led the governments of Central Africa to take community and sovereign measures to support the private sector. The Bank of Central African States (BEAC) has therefore set up a reinforced financial system to support sub-regional employers' organizations, more particularly with regard to SMEs, an essential link in the economic fabric of our States. However, if these devices are struggling to fully implement, it is undoubtedly due to the lack of an efficient evaluation and selection framework for these companies.

A decision-making tool

Indeed, while the need for private sector refinancing is becoming more necessary, the fact remains that it is more than necessary to know who is being financed, why and to what extent. It is at this level that the mandatory rating of companies comes into play. It allows, according to a number of selection criteria, to create a form of emulation or "selective financing"; it therefore pursues a twofold objective: to clean up the support portfolio of companies by focusing more on quality and implicitly to finance companies that are really vectors of growth for our economies.

Selection criteria

Among the most essential criteria, we retain the financial strength of organizations, their history and the forward-looking vision. Financial strength uses the analysis of consolidated accounts, the historical evolution of turnover over a period of 3 to 5 years. The forward-looking vision refers to the relevance of the development or recovery plan proposed by that organization. Finally, a more social dimension can be integrated into the rating criteria, particularly in terms of job retention rates, in order to contribute to the control of the mass unemployment curve.

How APNs work

APNas are public bodies with financial autonomy. In their purpose, they could be imposed on employers' organizations, following a form of compulsory annual contribution for all companies wishing to access the additional financing scheme provided for companies. This contribution ranging from 1 to 3% of the turnover achieved, depending on the choice of the organization could have advantages. It gives the opportunity to benefit from quarterly reviews on the note of these companies followed by practical recommendations; as well as access to guarantee funds from banks.

Access to the sub-regional stock market for companies

THE APNE will be levers for access to a range of financing that is more attractive to companies according to their size and nature. Indeed, some companies in the development phase wish to finance themselves through management and intermediation companies (SGI) that are responsible for raising funds on behalf of their clients from the financial markets (the Douala Stock Exchange, or even more dynamism with the Kigali Stock Exchange). This confers obligations for THE APNE, as regards the annual access to a form of revocable authorization with the Commission for the Supervision of the Financial Markets of Central Africa (COSUMAF). In short, the NCAPs could present themselves as instruments to support better economic and financial governance for both companies and public authorities. This form of audit will therefore aim to reveal the flaws or advances of the policies put in place by States as well as by companies, and further their correlation.