Feast of the Throne / Those companies who bet on Africa

Unbeknownst to the early 2000s of African finance radars, Moroccan banks are now the locomotive of Moroccan companies' internalization strategies. Their expansion also responds to the need to support their clients and the economic refocusing of Morocco on the continent.
The three largest commercial banks, Attijariwafa bank, BMCE Bank of Africa and Banque Centrale Populaire have 41 subsidiaries in sub-Saharan Africa. They are present mainly in the two monetary zones of West Africa (WAMU) and Central Africa (CEMAC) which are home to 78% of Moroccan settlements. This dynamic was driven in part by privatization policies and the restructuring of the African banking sector. The ground was nevertheless marked by the efforts made at the political level which made it possible to make the continent an important reception area for Moroccan investments.

Since the accession of King Mohammed VI to the throne, economic cooperation with sub – Saharan Africa has been intensified. Rabat canceled the debt of the least developed countries and the Moroccan borders were opened to their exports. The Sovereign's many visits were accompanied by the signing of several agreements, thus promoting the establishment of a legal framework for investments. This has allowed Moroccan companies to develop their activities in this region. Banks for example have benefited from the downturn operated by French institutions. The Crédit Agricole Group sold its assets in Gabon, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire and Congo to Attijariwafa bank. This group has been present in Senegal since 2006. It acquired Compagnie Bancaire de l'Afrique Occidentale (CBAO), the country's leading banking group. In 2008, AWB carried out a large-scale operation through an exchange of participations allowing it to take over the five African subsidiaries.

Leaving the comfort zone

In 2007, BMCE Bank Of Africa took stakes in the capital of Bank of Africa, the third banking group of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA). . This has ensured a wide coverage of the continent, well beyond the francophone comfort zone.
The Banque Centrale Populaire group has been working hard in recent years to reduce its backlog. It is continuing to expand its geographic network by opening branches and signing agreements with major partners, particularly in Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Madagascar, Nigeria and Rwanda. , Senegal, Tanzania and Zambia. Still, these banks do not have the monopoly and have to face the competition of important banks in English-speaking Africa!

In the telecoms, Maroc Telecom took advantage of the calls for tenders launched by the governments on the occasion of privatization of the country's incumbents. In 2001, the company acquired its first African company in Mauritania, acquiring 51 percent of Mauritel's shares. An interesting experience that will be followed five years later by the takeover of Onatel in Burkina Faso and in 2007 by the acquisition of 51% of the shares of Gabon Telecom. In January 2015, Maroc Telecom acquired 6 Etisalat subsidiaries in Africa. The company has extended its geographical coverage to Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Niger, Central Africa and Togo, countries in which Etisalat operated through the Moov brand … acquisitions that consolidate the opening of Morocco on the Continent.