Coris Holding

Equity : October 2025

BIO has committed EUR 20M in equity in Coris Holding, a tier 1 banking group in Francophone West Africa.

Amount

€ 20,000,000.00

Type of investment

Equity

Development impacts

Local economic growth
Private sector consolidation/innovation

Beneficiary locations

Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo

Investment field

Financial Institutions

Activity

Commercial Banking

Organisation

Coris Holding

Coris Holding is a leading and top performing banking group in Francophone West Africa (#2 in the WAEMU region), founded by a local Burkinabè self-made entrepreneur, Mr. Idrissa Nassa, and considered one of the most highly regarded success-stories in the financial sector in Burkina Faso and the region. The group is present in 10 countries, holding a EUR 4.6bn loan portfolio in the region (82% in LDCs). It counts over 2,000 employees and serves over 1 million customers.

BIO participated in a EUR 100M capital increase in Coris Holding with a consortium of like-minded investors, including FMO, BII and IFDK, led by Mediterrania Capital Partners (MCP), a well-established DFI-backed African Private Equity fund manager.

The consortium will be the first institutional partner to the sponsor at Coris Holding level, allowing for a voting board seat. This partnership will be key to support the Company's corporate governance framework and long-term growth and sustainability. The funds invested will reinforce the group’s capital base and support both organic and external growth. The capital increase will indeed allow Coris to reinforce its current positioning in the WAEMU region (across SME, retail and mesofinance segments), while also supporting further geographic diversification of the group, establishing a presence in other African markets.

With less than 30% of the population having access to a bank account in most of Coris’ markets, this capital injection will enable the group to reach millions of unbanked or underbanked people, strengthen SME financing, and promote sustainable economic growth across Africa.

Development impacts

Local economic growth
Support one of the major local banking groups in the region with well-anchored SME DNA and a presence in 10 countries, of which 9 are LDCs and/or FCAs, thus targeting underserved markets. Total SME portfolio of the group is already sizeable with over EUR 1bn (22.4% of loans) and it is expected to increase significantly over the investment period.
Private sector consolidation/innovation
Support a regional champion to make strategic acquisitions and/or greenfield expansions as the market is facing major consolidation phase to build-up a robust Pan-African group with embedded SME-finance DNA. Assist in identification of targets for acquisition in different geographies with potential key role in enlarging the offer of financial services in new markets and fostering regional integration.

E&S Impact

Coris agreed with the investors to recruit an external consultant to support the enhancement and implementation of the bank’s ESMS. Also, each local entity will appoint dedicated E&S staff to support the implementation at national levels. In parallel, the bank will improve its sector allocation system to ensure identification of IFC PS triggered transactions and potential exclusion list breaches. It will also assess and report on its climate risks as recommended by the TCFD. Finally, it will formalize further some of its HR procedures.

Environmental and Social (E&S) classification of the project: A