Morocco’s BMCE to Welcome New Shareholder

Rabat – Molay Hafid Elalamy, the founder and owner of Morocco’s third-largest insurance provider Saham Group, is set to acquire 25% of Morocco’s third-largest banking group BMCE in March as a first phase, according to French media.

ElAlamy is to acquire the shares previously held by the French group Credit Mutuel in a buyout as the group will all its shares in the Moroccan bank to ElAlamy. The French group had previously opposed BMCE’s $500-million investment plan pertaining to the Mohammed VI Tower, North Africa’s tallest building.

Acquiring BMCE shares is but a first step for Morocco’s largest insurance company, French media speculate. The group intends to acquire RMA Watanya, which belongs to the same FinanceCom holding company as BMCE.

Saham is still legally bound by a non-competition clause with Sanlam, South Africa’s largest insurance company.

News of the upcoming acquisition comes days after Othman Benjelloun, BMCE’s CEO, announced to local media that the banking group will undergo a strategic shift extending to all the group’s activities in Africa.

The BMCE board of directors is to announce details of the “strategic shift” on the sidelines of an upcoming board meeting in March.

With a wealth estimated at €1 billion, Elalamy holds the most liquid cash in Morocco. After selling shares of Saham to Sanlam in 2018 and listing Majorel in the Casablanca stock exchange, Elalamy has not yet tapped into his treasury.

At 91 years of age, Benjelloun remains the head of one of Africa’s largest banking groups with operations in over 20 African countries. He is currently the 15th richest individual in Africa, according to Forbes’ latest list of African billionaires.

FinanceCom holding company, founded and managed by Benjelloun, recently announced changing their name to O Capital Group, following a merger with Holding Benjelloun Mezian group.