Banco Angolano de Investimentos (formerly ''Banco Africano de Investimentos''), short ''BAI'', was founded in 1996 as the first private bank in

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

. The BAI is a full-service bank operating in Angola with a nationwide network of (mid-2012) 89

branches A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term ''twig'' usually r ...

in all 18 provinces, with 41 of those branches in

Luanda Province Luanda is a province of Angola. It covers an area of 18,835 km2, and had a population of 6,945,386 at the Census of 16 May 2014. The latest official estimate (for 2019) is 8,247,688.Instituto Nacional de Estatístiica, República de Angola. The ...

. In 9 of the 18 provinces, BAI operates only one branch office. The largest shareholder is

Sonangol Group Sonangol ( pt, Grupo Sonangol) is a parastatal that formerly oversaw petroleum and natural gas production in Angola. The group consisted of Sonangol E.P. ( pt, Sociedade Nacional de Combustíveis de Angola, E.P.) and its many subsidiaries. ...

, with 8.5% of the bank's capital. Arcinella Assets and Sforza Properties hold 7% respective 6.5% of the shares, six others hold 5% each; the remaining 48% are spread in smaller allotments. The BAI has one representation in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, the Banco BAI Europa S.A. with two branches, Lisbon and

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

. In 2008 BAI opened the Banco BAI Cabo Verde in Cape Verde with several branches. During the last year, BAI bought the Banco BAI Microfinanças (BMF), a small bank in Angola that offers several services including

Western Union The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services company, headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the company cha ...

payment transfers. BAI also is the shareholder in other companies, like the Banco Sul Atlantico (BSA), IFI in Cape Verde, Brasil Banco Múltiplo in Brazil, Banco Internacional de S. Tomé e Príncipe (BISTP) in

São Tomé and Principe SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U.S. ...

and other companies.

References

Banks of Angola Banks established in 1996 1996 establishments in Angola Companies based in Luanda {{Africa-bank-stub