Foreign-controlled banks made up 57.4% of the 54 banks in the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) at the end of 2025, down from 67.9% a year earlier, according to the annual report of the Banking Commission of Central Africa (COBAC), released on 22 October. Their number fell from 38 to 31, while banks owned by private national investors rose from six to ten. The shift follows Société Générale’s exit from Cameroon, Republic of Congo and Equatorial Guinea, where its units passed to the state or to African groups. Local owners now control a larger share of a sector whose lending to governments rose 19.9% in 2025, tying banks more closely to public finances.