Afriland First Bank saw the light of day in Cameroon in 1987 under the name of Caisse Commune d’Epargne et d’Investissement. The economic environment at the time was characterized by an unfavourable economic situation and the generalized bankruptcy of banks.
Four observations led to the creation of the First bank, notably:

• 60% of the business activity in Cameroon is not accounted for in the calculation of the GDP, since it emanates from the informal sector ; yet this activity creates wealth;
• a majority of people living in rural areas are excluded from the banking system;
• investors are not sufficiently prepared to meet production requirements;
• the financial system is mostly dominated by tontines and loan sharks.

From these observations, emerged the firm convictions that:

- the development of Africa is incumbent on Africans;
- economic development should be supported through the promotion of entrepreneurship and through investment;
- Some forms of savings exist in communities despite poverty; and lastly,
- There is need to promote the growth of enterprises.

These convictions led to the identification of four objectives, namely:

- Promoting the emergence of a new breed of african entrepreneurs;
- Creating business gateways between the formal and informal sectors of the economy;
- Enhancing access of the rural world to the banking system;
- Supporting the development of existing companies.
Hence the birth of the First Bank and the designing, by its promoters, of specific banking products, adapted to the African context. The first counter, opened in the current Retraite branch (Yaounde), went operational on 1st July 1988. The bank today has thirteen branches distributed in eight provinces of Cameroon and subsidiaries/offices abroad.