As part of the regularization of unclaimed funds, the Société Immobilière du Cameroun (SIC) transferred 482.39 million FCFA in housing deposits to the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations du Cameroun (CDEC). An operation that is part of a global dynamic of bringing financial institutions into compliance with the regulations in force.
On February 19, 2025, SIC and CDEC held a strategic meeting on the transfer of housing deposits for active and inactive customers. This meeting, which brought together the leaders of the two institutions, resulted in a finding of partial transfer of funds and related data. In the process, SIC updated the declaration of deposits for its inactive customers, representing an amount of 157.4 million FCFA, corresponding to 1,763 former tenants. This sum was transferred to CDEC, in addition to a previous transfer of 324.9 million FCFA made two days earlier for active customers. In total, 482.39 million FCFA were transferred in the space of 48 hours.
This transfer is part of a broader process of bringing public and financial institutions into compliance with legal obligations regarding deposits and consignments. Since its inception in 2023, the CDEC has received several dormant funds from various organizations, including banks and insurance companies. On October 31, 2023, Allianz Cameroon was the first insurance company to transfer 1.5 billion FCFA to the CDEC. Then, on May 29, 2024, the Bank of Central African States (BEAC) formalized the transfer of 3.9 billion FCFA, corresponding to the court deposits it held.
Despite these transfers in accordance with the legislation, tensions persist between the CDEC, the Central African Banking Commission (COBAC) and Cameroonian credit institutions. Since July 11, 2024, COBAC has suspended transfers of dormant funds from banks to the CDEC, complicating the implementation of legal provisions.
According to the law governing deposits and consignments, the sums transferred to the CDEC return definitively to the State after a period of 30 years. This provision underlines the importance of these funds for the economic and financial development of the country, by ensuring better management of dormant resources and by strengthening the transparency of the Cameroonian financial system.
