Morocco's investments in Africa, which have experienced strong growth over the past two decades, contribute to the strengthening of transregional cooperation.

In 2020, BMCE, the third largest bank in Morocco, decided to change its name to become Bank of Africa, the name of its subsidiary in sub-Saharan Africa acquired 15 years earlier.

Much more than just a rebranding, this measure illustrates how this institution, established as a public bank in the 1950s, has become a significant player in the African financial sector, with operations in more than twenty countries on the continent.

It was a bold decision that surprised our Moroccan clients, who had been accustomed to using the historical name for decades," explains Amine Bouabid, CEO of the Bank of Africa Group (BOA). "But the group really wanted to have a single brand for the whole of Africa

The expansion of the Bank of Africa south of Moroccan borders is not an isolated case. Over the past two decades, an increasing number of Moroccan companies have sought to strengthen their ties with the rest of the continent. According to the Ministry of Finance, the Kingdom's foreign direct investment in Africa has multiplied eightfold between 2014 and 2021.

Morocco occupies a unique position in Africa," explains Thomas Pellerin, IFC Manager for the manufacturing and services sector in the Maghreb and West Africa, from Rabat.

Source of the article: IFC