Oragroup S.A.
BIO granted a €5 million loan to Oragroup, dedicated to the banks in Benin and Togo.
Amount
€ 5,000,000.00
Type of investment
Debt
Development impacts
- Local economic growth
Beneficiary locations
Investment field
Financial Institutions
Activity
Commercial Bank
Oragroup S.A. is a holding company managing Oragroup, located in Lomé and active in 12 Western and African countries. The project consists of creating a regional banking platform across francophone West Africa, thereby reinforcing financial inclusion and SME financing. Through this project, BIO contributes to the creation of a unique regional group supporting local SME's in their regionalization and other customers in underserved countries.
The Group opened the first private bank in Benin in 1988, followed by the acquisition of 4 additional financial institutions in Chad, Gabon, Guinea and Togo. A microfinance activity was also developed as well through the creation of 3 MFIs under the name Finadev. The Finadev entities were created as subsidiaries of the subsidiaries in Bénin, Guinea and Togo (under the name Finadev).
Since the group was taken over by ECP, there has been a significant change in Oragroup’s shareholding structure, with Development institutions, BOAD and the Gabonese Strategic Investment Fund becoming leading shareholders. The Group made a strategic shift from a pure corporate banking (and big SMEs) platform to a universal banking model serving all types of clients with a focus on SMEs.
This fits perfectly with the new phase of growth based on a consolidation of the existing subsidiaries and the acquisition and recapitalization of two significant banking networks:
- Banque Togolaise de Développement (BTD): Oragroup acquired the 3rd bank in the country with activities complementary to Orabank Togo. BTD was positioned on the retail size while Orabank Togo is focused on SMEs.
- Banque Régionale de Solidarité (BRS): The BRS is a public banking group under privatization, present in all eight WAEMU countries.
Development impacts
-
Local economic growth
Oragroup is a universal commercial banking Group active in 12 countries of Western and Central Africa. BIO's investment supports the deepening of the banking sector in the region through the support of a professional banking group serving all type of clients with a clear focus on SMEs. Microfinance has also become an important activity with the takeover of the BRS.
The Group grew its deposit base by 2.5 times since 2009. In addition, the presence of BIO as a shareholder has a positive effect on the raising of equity and Tier2 from local private investors and from other international organizations like IFC.
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