Oragroup begins the process of joining the BRVM with the issue and sale of 13.88 million shares in the regional market as of October 29th. A “strategic choice” for a pan-African banking group that has great ambitions as explained in an interview Binta Toure NDoye, the director general, this October 19 in Abidjan.
What is the strategy behind your upcoming IPO?
Our stock market listing, which is the largest on the BRVM stock market since its inception, represents for us a very strategic moment of our institution. 2018 represents the 10th anniversary of the entry into our capital of ECP (Emerging Capital Partners, ed). 2018 also corresponds to the display of a very strong ambition for Africa, for an even greater presence. The IPO is a strategic moment to raise funds to pursue even stronger growth, serve our clients, and primarily to finance the economic sector of our countries of presence.
How is Oragroup different in the regional banking system?
Our motto is that we are a human bank, a committed bank and a bold bank; this is our DNA. We are a bold bank to the extent that we finance our SME clients, although banks are often criticized for not funding SMEs / SMIs. We are therefore a bold bank to the extent that we finance and support them. We are a bank also committed because CSR, the social responsibility of the company is very important in our customer approach. Finally we are a human bank because we are very close to our customers to satisfy them and accompany them every day to realize their dream.
Your IPO must also accompany the digitization of the group. Where are you at this level?
We have already begun to embrace and embrace the bank’s digitalization strategy. For us, creating agencies everywhere is expensive and the return on investment can be long. The digital bank allows us to be innovative, to serve more customers and above all allows us to participate in greater financial inclusion. You know that the rate of banking in our countries is very low. Digitization is a phenomenal leap in providing access to financial services to the poor and the most remote.
Digitization already exists at home and we already serve a good part of our customers through digital banking products. We have cards that are first fruits of the digital bank since our customers can through the use of our cards make various transactions. Our customers can also carry out their operations from their PC by staying at home without moving to our branches. So digitization is a reality that is improving.
What are the prospects that Oragroup plans for the coming years?
We target 2 million new customers through the digital bank. Today we have 430 thousand customers and we target 2 million additional customers through our digital banking strategy maturing in 2022. Our total balance sheet has exceeded the symbolic mark of 2 000 billion FCFA and we intend to double this figure in the long term.
In addition, we expect annual growth of 30% of all our indicators. This is already the reality since 2016 when we are increasing not only our resources by 30% each year, but also, between last year and this year, we have been able to increase our profit by 65%.
