Moroccan Attijariwafa Bank, Japanese Sumitomo Corporation Team up for Africa’s Development

The Moroccan banking group, Attijariwafa bank, and the Sumitomo Corporation Europe Limited, one of the branches of the Japanese giant, have signed recently a memorandum of understanding, under which they agreed to establish a long-term partnership for the implementation of major development projects in Africa.

The memorandum seeks to promote cooperation between the two groups in the automotive, infrastructure, chemical, mining and agricultural sectors in Africa and Morocco, said Attijariwafa bank in a statement released on Monday.

“This is an opportunity for our two groups to work together in Africa. This partnership opens promising prospects for Sumitomo Corporation for the development of its investments and commercial flows with the help of our group,” Boubker Jai was quoted in the statement as saying.

For his part, Ikari Data, Managing Director in charge of Business Development at the Sumitomo branch said the agreement with Attijariwafa bank will support the Japanese group’s presence and operations at the continental level.

The agreement will also enable Sumitomo Corporation to have access to the network and expertise of Attijariwafa bank group, which is now “an integrated African financial group capable of supporting our new regional strategy in the countries where the group is already operating,” the group’s executive said.

“The agreement was signed by Boubker Jai, CEO of Attijariwafa bank, and Bin Haga, CEO of Sumitomo Corporation Europe Limited,” said the statement.

The Sumitomo Corporation Group is already present in Morocco where it operates with local distributors of Japanese brands. It is also present in South Africa.