French bank, Société Générale (SG) is set to dispose of more subsidiaries in Africa, as it struggles to improve profitability.
The decision will affect its operations in Ghana, Cameroon and Tunisia, where SG has decided to bring its operations to an end.
SG has has asked the investment bank Lazard and its star banker Corso Bavagnoli, to find African buyers for these African subsidiaries, and Africa Intelligence believes the bank could reap between 200m and 300m Euros by disposing off these assets in these three countries.
Weeks ago, Société Générale finalized agreements with Saham Group to sell its Moroccan operations. Last year, it divested its interests in several African countries, including Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, and Chad.
Société Générale initially entered the Ghanaian market in 2003 by acquiring a 51 percent stakes in the then Social Security Bank. Despite the challenges faced by the financial sector, the bank asserted its resilience during its 20th-anniversary celebration last year.
The Société Générale group, with its longstanding presence in Africa, intends to concentrate its resources on markets where it can establish itself as a leading bank, in alignment with the group’s overall strategy, as stated on its website on April 12, 2024.
European banks, including Barclays, Standard Chartered, and Atlas Mara have been folding up their African businesses in recent years due to new interests elsewhere.
Source: Africa Intelligence