Attijariwafa has quietly expanded south over the past two years to become one of the largest African banks outside South Africa. At the tail end of 2008, the bank, under the watch of chief executive Mohamed El Kettani, announced what amounted to an epoch-making deal: a E250 million bid for Crédit Agricole of France’s retail banking assets.
Over the past year, Attijariwafa has successfully integrated these business units to establish its retail and commercial banking presence in Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon and Gabon; it is also now the top lender in the Senegalese market.
Boosted by 5% growth in Morocco in 2009, the bank retained its status as the biggest bank in its home market last year – and remains more profitable than arch-rival BMCE. This strong market position has given the lender capital to plunge deeper into West Africa this year. In March, the bank snapped up a 60% stake in BNP Paribas Mauritanie for an as-yet undisclosed fee and has opened an office in Burkina Faso.
Sub-Saharan Africa’s contribution to the Attijariwafa’s net banking income was 15% in 2009 but is set to increase steadily as growth takes off. In sum, Attijariwafa is now in a strong position to compete with its southern rivals, chiefly Togo-based Ecobank and Nigeria’s United Bank of Africa. In the global bull run, African banks left, right and centre jumped onto the expansionist bandwagon. Attijariwafa is better managed and stronger capitalized than most and, as such, is likely to outperform in another credit storm.