Formal, informal and semi-formal sources of finance: Is there any difference amongst Cameroonian small enterprises and medium enterprises?

Abstract

Studies on the small and medium sized enterprises SMEs financing do not generally distinguish them. This study aims to compare the small enterprises SEs financing to those of medium enterprises MEs . Evidence from our analysis on forty-one SEs and forty seven MEs points the fact that bank loan and informal funding sources, effectively allow significant distinction amongst SEs and MEs in Cameroon. While the formal and semi formal intermediate funding overdraft, trade credit, and microcredit from Microfinance Institutions MFIs does not allow differentiating them. Consequently SEs financing sources are more informal than MEs financing sources. Thus, the effectiveness of economic policy for SMEs is subject to a distinction between them.