Attijariwafa Bank

Attijariwafa bank is a Moroccan international financial services group headquartered in Casablanca. It was established through the merger of Banque Commerciale du Maroc (BCM) and Wafabank, creating one of the largest financial institutions in the country.[3] Since the merger, Attijariwafa Bank has consistently ranked as the leading bank in Morocco by assets and market share.

Attijariwafa Bank operates an extensive international network, with a strong presence across North, West, and Central Africa, as well as representative offices and subsidiaries in Europe and Asia.[4] Its expansion into sub-Saharan Africa has been a key component of its growth strategy since the mid-2000s.

As of the early 2020s, Attijariwafa Bank ranked among the largest banking groups in Africa by Tier 1 capital, placing it within the top five African banks according to international financial rankings.[5]

The bank is listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange and is majority controlled by Al Mada, a Moroccan investment holding company owned by the Moroccan royal family.[6][7]

History

The modern Attijariwafa Bank was established in 2004 through the merger of two long-standing Moroccan banks: Wafabank and Banque Commerciale du Maroc (BCM). Wafabank’s history dates back to 1904, when the Compagnie Française de Crédit et de Banque opened a branch in Tangier; this entity eventually became Wafabank after several reorganizations and a name change in 1985. BCM was founded in 1911 with the establishment of a branch of Banque Transatlantique in Tangier and later grew into a major commercial bank in Morocco. The merger combined the legacy networks and operations of both banks into a unified financial group operating under the name Attijariwafa Bank.[8]

In 2005, Attijariwafa Bank in consortium with Banco Santander acquired 54 percent of Banque du Sud in Tunisia, subsequently renamed Attijari Bank. In Senegal, it obtained a banking license in 2005 and started its own operations in 2006; acquired a 67 percent stake in the country's fifth-largest bank, Banque Sénégalo-Tunisienne (BST),[9] in January 2007; and acquired a 79 percent stake in the Compagnie Bancaire de l'Afrique Occidentale in April 2008, which it merged with its other Senegalese operations in December of that year, under the name CBAO Groupe Attijariwafa Bank.[10]

In November 2008, the group acquired a 51 percent stake in Banque internationale pour le Mali (BIM, est. 1980 in Bamako). In late 2009, it acquired the operations of Crédit Agricole in four more countries, namely Crédit du Congo (est. 2002 in Brazzaville), Union Gabonaise de Banque (UGB, est. 1962 in Libreville), Société Ivoirienne de Banque (SIB, est. 1962 in Abidjan), and Crédit du Sénégal (est. 1989 in Dakar). In December 2010, it partnered with BCP Group to acquire an 80 percent stake in BNP Paribas Mauritanie (est. 2006 in Nouakchott), then purchased a 51 percent stake in Société Commerciale de Banque Cameroun (SCB Cameroun, est. 1989 in Yaoundé), and in September 2013, a 55 percent stake in Banque Internationale pour l'Afrique au Togo (BIA Togo, in Lomé). In 2017, it acquired 100 percent of the former Barclays subsidiary in Egypt. In the meantime, the group also established operations in Guinea-Bissau in 2008, and through its Senegalese subsidiary CBAO in Burkina Faso in 2011, Niger in 2013, and Benin in 2015.[10]

By end-2018, Attijariwafa Bank had operations in 15 African countries with a network of over 4,300 branches which it viewed as the most extensive in Africa.[10]

On 8 November 2022, Attijariwafa Bank partnered with Union Bank of Nigeria to expand its operations in Africa.[11][12]

On 10 August 2023, Attijariwafa Bank has launched a new payment solution powered by Apple Pay.[13]

As of end-2023, the group's operations in Africa outside Morocco represented around a quarter of its total assets, with the largest contributions coming from Tunisia (5.6 percent), Egypt (4.7 percent), Côte d'Ivoire (4.1 percent), and Senegal (3.8 percent).[14]

Leadership

Mohamed El Kettani has been chairman and CEO of Attijariwafa Bank since 2007. Abdelaziz Alami was honorary chair as of 2013.[15]

Ownership

As of late 2013, the main shareholders of Attijariwafa Bank were Al Mada (47.77%), Moroccan cooperative insurers MCMA-MAMDA (8.09%), Government-owned Caisse de dépôt et de gestion (4.26% via RCAR and 2.31 directly), Santander Group (5.27%, via Santusa Holding), and other Moroccan institutional investors (CIMR 2.34%, CMR 2.27%, Axa Maroc 1.37%, RMA-Watanya 1.32%), plus 6.61 percent held by the group's own insurance arm Wafa Assurance and 4.54 percent held by its employees.[16] By end-2023, the group's ownership structure had remained substantially stable, with Al Mada's share slightly lower at 46.5 percent.[14]

See also

• List of banks in Morocco

External links

• Attijariwafa Bank website
• company profile at Reuters