In three years, BNP Paribas will have liquidated its holdings in 8 subsidiaries in Africa excluding Morocco, Algeria and South Africa.
In Côte d’Ivoire, the sale process of the Banque internationale pour le commerce et l’industrie de la Côte d’Ivoire (BICICI), a subsidiary of the French group BNP Paribas, is in its final phase. The offer is almost closed. Only one candidate is in the running because of the solidity of its technical and financial offer and the will of the Ivorian State to constitute a large public banking pole. According to our information, it is a consortium made up of the Caisse Nationale de Prévoyance Sociale (CNPS), the Banque Nationale d’Investissement (BNI), the Caisse Générale de Retraite des Agents de l’Etat (CGRAE) and the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC), which is in pole position. The consortium is advised by Casablanca-based Finactu and Lanciné Diaby’s Diabs Invest. BNP Paribas was advised by the investment bank Rothschild.
The sale concerns 59.05% of BNP Paribas BDDI Participations. However, a suspense remains on the 7% stake in Proparco, which has a tag-along right. As for the Sunu group, an 18% shareholder, it remains in the capital of BICICI. Ditto for private Ivorians holding 14% of the bank’s capital.
As a reminder, BNP Paribas is actively withdrawing from its sub-Saharan subsidiaries for several reasons linked, among other things, to compliance and its strategic plan to refocus on the old continent, America and Asia. Over the past three years, the French banking group has sold its holdings in Gabon, Mali and the Comoros to Atlantic Financial Group (AFG) owned by businessman Koné Dossongui. Similarly, in 2020, the subsidiaries in Burkina Faso and Guinea were sold to the Vista group of Simon Tiemtoré. In 2021, the Tunisian subsidiary, the Union Bancaire pour le Commerce et l’Industrie (UBCI) fell into the fold of the CARTE group. In addition to these series of disposals, there is therefore the sale of the stakes of BNP Paribas in BICIS in Senegal to the SUNU group and those of its stakes in BICICI to the aforementioned consortium. The French bank continues to ensure that these subsidiaries in Algeria (BNP Paribas El Djazaïr), Morocco (BMCI) and South Africa (BNPP SA) are not affected. Wait and watch.
