2023-10-05 15:58:00
(Ecofin Agency) – Orange Bank Africa has obtained a favorable opinion from the Banking Commission of the West African Monetary Union with a view to opening a subsidiary in Senegal. The initiative comes 3 years after the launch of the activities of this digital bank in Ivory Coast.
Orange Bank Africa (OBA), the digital bank of the Orange group, present since 2020 on the Ivorian banking market, will extend its activities to Senegal. Jean Louis Menann-Kouamé, general manager of OBA, announced this Thursday, October 5 on his LinkedIn page, that he had been informed by the Banking Commission of the UMOA (West African Monetary Union), of its favorable decision with a view to opening of an Orange Bank Africa branch in Senegal.
According to Mr. Menann-Kouamé, this West African expansion aims to “ to benefit the Senegalese […] a simple digital banking offer of instant credit from 5,000 to 1,000,000 FCFA for the benefit of Ornage Money customers ».
This expansion in Senegal was announced last May by the CEO of Orange Bank Africa, who indicated at that time that he was working on this development project as well as on the evolution of the bank’s digital loan offering. At the beginning of July 2023, the establishment 85% owned by the Orange group, Orange Côte d’Ivoire and Sonatel concluded with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a risk sharing mechanism, intended to allow the extension of its operations of digital loans to micro and SMEs in Ivory Coast and then in Senegal, once it has received the agreement to operate there.
Through this guarantee, OBA explained that it wanted to grant 300,000 additional loans by 2025, to micro-enterprises, young entrepreneurs in rural areas as well as Mobile Money agents and merchants accepting digital payments.
In Senegal, where Orange Bank Africa plans to launch its activities in the coming months, 63% of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises face difficulties in obtaining a loan or line of credit, according to the World Bank Group’s report on the gaps in MSME financing (MSME Finance Gap Report).
Note that in 3 years of activity in Ivory Coast, Orange Bank Africa claims to have granted, in the form of micro-credits, nearly 230 billion CFA francs to its clients. The bank created in 2020 in partnership with the bancassurance group NSIA plans to continue its development in Mali and Burkina Faso, “ in the near future ».
Chamberlain Moko
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