Moroccan, Japanese Banks sign partnership agreement on sideline of TICAD summit

Two of Morocco’s leading banking groups, Banque Centrale Populaire and Attijariwafa Bank, have signed partnership agreements with Japanese banking institutions, on the sidelines of the 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD-VII), currently held in Yokohama.

Thus, Banque Centrale Populaire, BCP, and Japan’s second largest banking group Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) signed, on Wednesday in Yokohama (Japan) a memorandum of understanding to mutually develop business opportunities on the African continent.

 

Through this strategic partnership, concluded on the sidelines of the ongoing 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD-VII), BCP and its subsidiaries position themselves as the ideal banking partners for Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC). They will support Japanese and Asian clients of the SMBC group in their investment and trade projects in Morocco, Mauritius as well as in sub-Saharan countries where BCP operates.

“This memorandum reflects the common will of both institutions, BCP and SMBC, to strengthen their cooperation in the strategic sectors of the different geographical areas where they are present, thus contributing to further promote the sustainable development of trade and investment activities between Japan and Africa,” said Director General of BCP, Kamal Mokdad at the signing ceremony.

 

This multifaceted support covers areas such as project financing, cash management and trade finance products, and local partnership development.

 

Tokyo-based SMBC is the second largest bank in Japan by assets. It provides personal banking, corporate banking and investment banking services. It is owned by Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group.

On its part, Attijariwafa Bank (AWB) signed a Memorandum of Understanding for business cooperation with Japanese Mizuho Bank Ltd.

The agreement covers a broad range of banking and related services.

 

“The signing of this memorandum completes the networking that our group has undertaken with major international banking institutions in order to better serve our clients around the world,” AWB Chairman and CEO, Mohamed El Kettani said.

 

“The latest MOU will enable us to provide full banking services in Morocco as well as across North, West and Central Africa, through AWB and its subsidiaries,” the Japanese bank pointed out in a release.