“I firmly believe in individual action, every woman must understand that being a woman and a leader is very possible. We are not born a leader, we become it! “
Interview by Dia El Hadj Ibrahima, Nouakchott.
Financial Afrik spoke to the first Mauritanian to run a bank. After a university career which took her to Switzerland, Tunisia, Spain and the United States, Dr. Leila Bouamatou returned to Mauritania to head the paternal bank, Générale de Banque de Mauritanie. She made her debut in 2009 as head of the treasury of the Générale de Banque de Mauritanie (GBM). For four years, Leila Bouamatou has been a Director and General Manager.
A high-risk position that his solid experience in the field of international finance allows him to brilliantly overcome. While bringing fresh air to the management of this august investment bank which had never seen so much modernism before. Exclusive.
Tell us briefly about yourself and your background? How were you able to establish yourself in your sector?
First of all, I am an authentic African, of Mauritanian father and Senegalese mother; wife and mother of two boys. But, I am also, in the history of my country, the first woman to run a bank. I grew up in a multicultural and multilingual family environment, which greatly influenced my school, academic and professional career. I also studied in different languages and obtained various degrees in different countries.
Above all, I learned a lot from my father and nonetheless “mentor” by accompanying him on his professional trips and in his business meetings: I thus learned to nourish myself with a culture based, mainly on:
-The work and self-confidence.
-The determination to always go forward with a high level of demand from myself.
-The legitimacy of my right as a woman to be a leader in my company.
For four years you have been the first Mauritanian woman to run a bank. Since then, how has the GBM evolved in terms of total balance sheet, NBI and profits? What is the positioning of GBM bank in the Mauritanian financial sector today?
Let us first recall that the Générale de Banque de Mauritanie pour l’Investissement et le Commerce (G.B.M) was created in 1995 by its founder. Its vocation has always been to advise and finance companies operating in the strategic sectors of the Mauritanian economy (energy, mining, fishing, infrastructure, industry, telecommunications, and services).
Thanks to its profile as a bank for companies of all sizes, its experience and the partnerships developed with donors and foreign correspondents, the GBM is able to offer its clients the solutions best suited to their needs, as well as monitoring and support.
First Mauritanian bank by capitalization, our bank meets the most demanding solvency and liquidity criteria.
Despite an economic situation that has remained difficult since 2018, the bank’s total balance sheet increased by 11% compared to the previous year, and went from the 10th position in 2018 to the 8th in 2020. At the level of the asset structure, customer receivables represent more than 74% of the total balance sheet (the GBM still keeps its 7th place in terms of positioning), illustrating the vocation of the bank and its commitment to support the economy Mauritanian.
In terms of liabilities, customer deposits represent more than 61% of the balance sheet total. Net banking income for 2020 is up 44% over three years at constant method, positioning the bank in 9th place.
The bank’s result also grew by 86% between the period 2018 and 2020. The bank continues to strengthen its equity by allocating all of the result of its last ten years to its equity.
At the head of this institution, what are the difficulties you encounter vis-à-vis men but also women in your daily relationships?
Women have always occupied, with us, a privileged place in Mauritanian society and in its decision-making spheres, but only at the level of the family.
Also, the novelty is found in this context where a woman runs a bank for the first time and thus finds herself “to be” pioneer “, in a sector, durably, monopolized by men. But, over time, you get used to it and no longer see the woman but the leader that she is.
I had to deal with the particular behavior of certain people in my professional and social circle, but that is the part of any pioneering adventure!
In fact, the most important thing for me was to send a message, to mark the will and firm commitment of the Mauritanian woman to participate in all competitions in order to regain her place and above all to deserve it. Frankly, I do not regret anything and I am, rather, delighted to have dared to shake this coconut tree.
What strategies do you think a woman leader needs to put in place to achieve her goals?
Speaking of the strategies put in place by women, we have a different leadership style than men. We are more inclined towards the transformational leadership style because the female leader:
- Often seeks to be a role model who inspires employees;
- Spends much more time coaching team members and pays more attention to their personal development;
- Sees teamwork and communication as the keys to success.
Do you think that the emergence of Africa will depend resolutely on the assertive leadership of women, their empowerment and gender equality?
Africa is not taking full advantage of the capacities and potential of its youth and women. There is certainly an effort and work that has been done to revitalize the continent, but I think we have missed the point; that is, to identify the institutional factors that prevent or encourage women to aspire to leadership roles in their society and to be taken seriously.
Mobile banking is developing at high speed. What is your approach to digital finance?
Digitization is one of the priority areas of the commercial strategy that my team and I presented when I took office. The Covid-19 pandemic has validated our vision and confirmed that this is the future of financial institutions.
Going paperless banking services will help us be closer to our customers and their ramifications.
This project, which began in 2018, included several components, including the development of an interactive website open to the general public, i.e. customers, prospects and any other person looking for information on the Mauritanian banking sector. as well as e-banking offering all front office services; the establishment of a complete electronic payment infrastructure open to any electronic transaction through mobile banking to finally open up to the most used tool currently, which is the smartphone. These two components are operational to date. Mobile banking, the last part of our digitalization project, has started in two phases, the autonomous phase and the interbank pooled one through the interbank switch. This last phase, which has already started, is soon operational. the stand-alone phase will be launched shortly with a view to launching a fully digital subsidiary that will be accessible to a large audience without moving away from our core business, which is corporate banking.
What analysis would you make today of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the banking and financial sector in Mauritania
At the level of the country’s banking and financial system, the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic has been relatively mitigated by the measures taken by the highest national authorities both in terms of the management of the pandemic and of the measures taken. support implemented by the Monetary Policy Council of the Central Bank of Mauritania.
This Council very early on decided on a number of measures aimed at increasing the resources made available to banks in order to enable them to maintain and increase the financing of the national economy.
In this context, we noted with satisfaction the drop in key rates, that of the loan facility, of the mandatory reserve rate without forgetting the temporary freeze of deposits on documentary credits for the purpose of importing primary foodstuffs. necessity and hydrocarbons.
How do you see the economic development of Mauritania?
In general, the COVID-19 pandemic has created a global health crisis coupled with a large-scale economic crisis whose consequences remain to be determined once this global pandemic has been brought under control.
Economic activity in Mauritania has experienced a significant slowdown due to several endogenous and exogenous factors linked directly or indirectly to this crisis.
An initial assessment shows a decline in GDP of -2.2% in 2020. The economic recession may be more severe if the pandemic continues its propensity. Fortunately, the Mauritanian authorities reacted quickly to the shock by taking strong measures to contain the pandemic at the local level and mitigate its repercussions on the country’s economy.
With the support of its development partners, our country has obtained satisfactory results in consolidating reforms aimed at ensuring solid economic stability.
The President of the Republic announced a very ambitious enlarged priority program with a funding envelope of around 500 million euros.
We have great hopes for the success of this program, which will undoubtedly allow us to quickly and sustainably revive our economy.
