Rabat – Morocco’s Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP) acquired 68.5% of the capital of the International Bank of Cameroon for Savings and Credit (BICEC), from French banking group Banque Populaire Caisse d’Epargne (BPCE).
BCP, a pan-African banking group, is now present in 15 African countries.
The other shareholders of BICEC are the state of Cameroon (17.5%), Cameroonian private shareholders (7.5%), and the Italian bank Instituto Centrale Delle Banche Populari (1.5%).
The agreement was finalized on October 1, and BCP can now claim a presence in the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC).
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Kamal Mokdad, director of BCP, called the move a new phase of development for BICEC.
“BICEC will benefit from the best banking practices, innovations and expertise adapted to the African market,” Mokdad said.
Customer satisfaction and promoting local talent are now BICEC’s top priorities, Mokdad added.
With their headquarters in Casablanca, the BCP group is the 6th largest bank in Africa. The consolidated net income of the group’s subsidiaries increased by 75% to MAD 857 million between 2018 and 2019.
The addition of BICEC to the BCP group is expected to have a positive impact on the group’s earnings in 2020.
