BMCE Bank of Morocco has raised its stake in pan-African banking conglomerate Bank of Africa (BOA) Group to 72.7%.
BMCE previously held a 65.02% in BOA Group. Other shareholders of BOA include Private African Investors with a 16.09% stake, FMO with a 5.02% stake, PROPARCO with a 3.84% stake, and BIO with a holding of 2.35%.
According to BOA managing director Ronald Marambii, the move is targeted at raising capital to serve financial needs of its customers across Kenya and around Africa where the bank operates with 18 subsidiaries and 1,200 branch networks.
"The larger shareholding by BMCE Bank means that we are now part of a strong strategic partner and we can better focus on our main goal which is to finance the African economy, that includes retail customers, companies of all sizes, private and public projects," Marambii said.
The bank plans to focus on the Kenyan market, which is its largest and most profitable subsidiary. The subsidiary operates with 40 retail branches and two business centres in Mombasa and Nairobi, Kenya.
