This new institution has an initial share capital of 26 billion CFA francs, exceeding the regulatory minimum of 25 billion CFA francs imposed by the Bank of Central African States (BEAC). The legal materialization of the company, still subject to obtaining the final approval of the Central African Banking Commission (COBAC), marks the parent company's desire to expand its presence in the CEMAC zone after its successful implantation in Chad.

The operational governance of the structure will be entrusted to a Board of Directors, whose appointment remains conditional on the regional regulator's approval. The chairmanship of the Board of Directors is held by Alice Dakuyo Kaboré, while the General Management is entrusted to Lionel Wenceslas Ouédraogo, former Chief Financial Officer of the holding company and current manager at Banco Comercial do Atlântico in Cape Verde, assisted by Ling Namou as Deputy General Manager. On the commercial front, the future bank plans to break the duopoly of traditional banks by introducing dedicated Islamic and participatory finance counters, a segment still marginal in Cameroon where 18 credit institutions are already competing. The offensive is based on the financial solidity of the West African group, the second-largest player in the UEMOA zone with an 8.6% market share, a total balance sheet exceeding 3,000 billion CFA francs, and an annual net profit of 65.5 billion CFA francs, up 36.6%.

The endogenous integration of Coris Bank International comes after the failure of negotiations to acquire the local subsidiary of Société Générale, which was eventually nationalized by the Cameroonian public authorities. The option of organic growth through the creation of strongly capitalized structures, rather than exploiting the single community authorization mechanism, illustrates the desire of businessman Idrissa Nassa to saturate high-growth potential markets. The operational success of the future bank will depend on the speed of the COBAC's review of the file, which has a six-month deadline to issue its opinion, as well as the new team's ability to capture the liquidity of a clientele of companies seeking to diversify their credit lines.


Nlend Flore

Tags: banque cameroun coris bank finance islamique zone cemac beac cobac secteur bancaire afrique centrale