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Bank of Africa (BOA) is a Moroccan banking
conglomerate headquartered in
Casablanca
Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...
,
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
, with banking operations in Morocco and eighteen other African countries. Its main predecessor entities started in 1959 in Morocco and in 1982 in Mali. Until 2020 the group parent entity was known as the Banque Marocaine du Commerce Extérieur (BMCE, (; "Moroccan Bank of Foreign Trade"), a name that lingers as "BMCE Group" in the BOA brand identity as of 2022. BOA has offices in Europe, Asia, France, Spain, United Kingdom, China, Italy, Germany,
UAE
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
, Belgium, Canada and Netherlands.
History
BMCE was created in 1959, shortly after the country's independence, and listed on the
Casablanca Stock Exchange
The Casablanca Stock Exchange ( ar, بورصة الدار البيضاء; french: La Bourse de Casablanca) is a stock exchange in Casablanca, Morocco. The Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE), which achieves one of the best performances in the region ...
in 1974. In 1995, it was privatized and became controlled by Moroccan businessman
Othman Benjelloun
Othman Benjelloun (Tamazight: ⵄⴻⵜⵎⴰⵏ ⴱⴰⵏⵊⴰⵍⵍⵓⵏ; ar, عثمان بن جلون; born 1931) is a Moroccan banker billionaire businessman. He is known for co-founding of BMCE Bank and Bank of Africa, and serves as its ...
through insurer .
BOA's initial bank in Sub-Saharan Africa was established in late 1982, in
Bamako, Mali
Bamako ( bm, ߓߡߊ߬ߞߐ߬ ''Bàmakɔ̌'', ff, 𞤄𞤢𞤥𞤢𞤳𞤮 ''Bamako'') is the capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2009 population of 1,810,366 and an estimated 2022 population of 2.81 million. It is located on the Niger River ...
, by local businesspeople. It was formed to address the scarcity of banking services for local businesses and individuals, which was prevalent not only in Mali at that time, but across most of
Francophone
French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...
. This initial effort was without any external financial backing. The success of BOA Mali, led to the establishment of ''African Financial Holdings (AFH)'', as the holding company for BOA Mali in 1988. The objectives of AFH were to promote the establishment of banking subsidiaries across Africa, with local
capital participation Capital participation (sometimes also called ''equity participation'' or ''equity interest'') is a form of equity sharing not restricted to housing, in which a company, infrastructure, property or business is shared between different parties. Shareh ...
as a key component and to offer both management, technical support as well as equity participation in these new banking subsidiaries.
Starting in 1990 with BOA Benin, the BOA group started opening subsidiaries across the continent, initially in Francophone countries but eventually in
Anglophone
Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the ''Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest language ...
Africa, starting with BOA Kenya in 2004. To increase their capital base, AFH took on new investors including the PROPARCO, a division of the
French Development Agency
The French Development Agency (french: Agence française de développement, AFD) is a public financial institution that implements the policy defined by the French Government. It works to fight poverty and promote sustainable development. This pub ...
,
Netherlands Development Finance Company
FMO ( nl, Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden N.V.) is a Dutch development bank structured as a bilateral private-sector international financial institution based in the Hague, the Netherlands. FMO manages funds for the ...
(FMO) and
Natexis
Natixis is a French corporate and investment bank created in November 2006 from the merger of the asset management and investment banking operations of ''Natexis Banques Populaires'' (Banque Populaire group) and ''IXIS'' (Groupe Caisse d'Epargne ...
(later
Natixis
Natixis is a French corporate and investment bank created in November 2006 from the merger of the asset management and investment banking operations of ''Natexis Banques Populaires'' (Banque Populaire group) and ''IXIS'' (Groupe Caisse d'Epargne ...
) of
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
.
In 2008, AFH rebranded into Bank of Africa Group, and BMCE took a 35% shareholding interest, bringing much needed financial capital and banking expertise.
BMCE became majority owner of the BOA group in 2010.
In 2020, BMCE rebranded itself as Bank of Africa. Through successive transactions since 2004,
Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale has become the second major shareholder of the group with 25% of the company's equity as of end-2020.
The largest shareholder remains Othman Benjelloun at 27.4 percent, through his O Capital holding company and insurance company RMA Watanya.
Member companies
Banking subsidiaries
BOA had operational bank subsidiaries in the following countries, as of March 2016:
Specialized subsidiaries
The specialized subsidiaries of Bank of Africa Group include the following:
# Banque de l'Habitat du Bénin (BHB)
# Equipbail Benin
# Equipbail Mali
# Equipbail Mada
# Actibourse SA
#
Agora SA
Agora Spółka Akcyjna (Agora SA) is a Polish media company. Agora and ''Gazeta Wyborcza'' (''The'' ''Electoral Gazette'') were created on the eve of the parliamentary elections in 1989. ''Gazeta Wyborcza'' became the first independent newspape ...
#
Aissa - BOA's IT company
# Attica SA
Entities of the BOA Group also include :
*
BMCE Bank International
BMCE Bank International, formerly known as MediCapital Bank Plc is an international bank specialising in Africa.
BMCE Bank International is a multinational full service investment and wholesale bank, headquartered in London with an internationa ...
– international business
*
Meditel
Orange Maroc (or previously Médi Télécom or Méditel) is one of three major licensed telecommunications operators in Morocco. The multi-service operator offers Mobile phone, mobile, Landline, fixed-line, cybersecurity and mobile payment offer ...
–
telecom
*
Medi 1
Medi1 Radio ( ar, مدي 1, also known as Radio Méditerranée Internationale) is a private, commercial Moroccan radio network. Medi 1 has an audience of around 23 million people. It is emitted from Nador transmitter on 171 kHz longwave, and ...
– radio station
*
Africa Morocco Link – shipping company
See also
*
Attijariwafa Bank
*
Banque Populaire (Morocco)
Banque Centrale Populaire is a major bank in Morocco.
The bank maintains overseas offices in Germany, England, Canada, Spain, France, Gibraltar, Netherlands and Belgium.
The bank's name is abbreviated to BCP.
As of 2012, the bank's market share ...
*
Ecobank
Ecobank, whose official name is Ecobank Transnational Inc. (ETI), is a pan-African banking conglomerate, with banking operations in 36 African countries. It is the leading independent regional banking group in West Africa and Central Africa, se ...
*
Standard Bank
Standard Bank Group Limited is a major South African bank and financial services group. It is Africa's biggest lender by assets. The company's corporate headquarters, Standard Bank Centre, is situated in Simmonds Street, Johannesburg.
History ...
*
United Bank for Africa
United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) is a Multinational pan-African financial services group headquartered in Lagos and known as Africa’s Global Bank. It has subsidiaries in 20 African countries and offices in London, Paris and New York. In Dece ...
*
Zenith Bank
Zenith Bank Plc is a large financial service provider in Nigeria and Anglophone West Africa. It is licensed as a commercial bank by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the national banking regulator. As of 31 December 2019, it holds $16.1bn in total ass ...
*
List of banks in Morocco
External links
Bank of Africa Group Website
References
{{Authority control
Banks of Morocco
Banks established in 1982
1982 establishments in Morocco
Companies based in Casablanca