Othman Benjelloun Chairman & CEO BMCE

Already one of Morocco's biggest banks, Banque Marcaine du Commerce Exterieur, or BMCE, has ambitious plans to expand both at home and into countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
The growth will be based on the lender's impressive financial results. Net profit at BMCE increased 55% in 2007 from a year earlier, to 1.4 billion Moroccan dirhams ($195 million) and revenue rose 24% to 4.5 billion dirhams ($625 million), boosted by growth in loans and in client deposits.

The bank, which has total assets of about 107 billion dirhams ($14.6 billion), wants to improve on its already solid earnings performance by focusing even more on its clients and by bulking up its presence in Morocco. BMCE opened 70 new branches in 2007 and has plans to add more.

“The bank has a strong desire to improve clients' access to banks, which will result in a more sustained expansion of its network in coming years,” says Othman Benjelloun, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BMCE. “This ambitious step will allow the bank to further ensure its role as the neighborhood bank, placing the client at the heart of its efforts.”

The growth of its retail network will help the bank expand other areas of its business as well. BMCE plans to accelerate its growth in the small and medium-sized company market, with help from its CAP Entreprises project, and expects to solidify its leadership in the corporate banking sector.

At the same time, the bank intends to take advantage of its expertise in those financial areas to reinforce its role in investment banking through its BMCE Capital unit, which already has a strong culture of financial innovation, according to Benjelloun.

The bank can of course supply its clients in Morocco with a full range of financial services. BMCE Capital Bourse is the lender's brokerage unit, and BMCE Capital Gestion provides wealth management expertise.

BMCE opened 70 new branches in 2007 and has plans to add more.

BMCE is also looking to increase its international presence. The bank has offices in Spain, France, Italy and Germany, and recently opened a branch in London, called MediCapital Bank, which will be used as a springboard to expand in Africa.

“BMCE is pursuing its international development to respond to the strategy of regional integration in the Maghreb, and to profit from the important potential that sub-Saharan Africa has,” Benjelloun remarks. “MediCapital Bank's goal will be to start a new model for finance, a new model based on partnership with Africa in the framework of sustainable, long-term engagement.”

The bank is already active in nearby countries, and owns a 27% stake in Banque de Developpement du Mali, that country's biggest bank, and 25% of La Congolaise de Banque, based in Congo-Brazzaville.

BMCE recently secured a $110 million loan to help it further its ambitions in the region. The funding agreement, signed with the World Bank's International Finance Corporation subsidiary, was used to finance BMCE's purchase of 35% of the holding company of Africa Financial Holding/Bank of Africa.

The purchase of the stake represents a major step for BMCE in its plan to grow in the rest of Africa. Bank of Africa has operations in six West African countries, including Cote d'Ivoire and Senegal, as well as in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Madagascar.

BMCE also raised money for its expansion last year through the sale of a 5% stake in the bank to Caja de Ahorros del Mediterraneo, a Spanish savings bank. The Moroccan bank's partnerships with foreign banks directly benefit its clients, Benjelloun affirms.

“The contribution of the foreign shareholders is pertinent and it shows through the introduction of new technologies and know-how, which has contributed to the improvement of the efficiency of the sector, and the widening of the range of products and services offered to the client,” he explains.