After the internationalization of capital in its commercial and industrial dimensions in the south-south direction, a boom in the internationalization of capital is emerging today by the multinational banks in the south.
One of the most striking events in this South-South banking internationalization is the expansion of Moroccan banks in Africa, which has accelerated since the middle of the first decade of the twentieth century.
The internationalization of Moroccan banks in Africa, a new and undeniable phenomenon, is part of the Moroccan-African policy advocated by the country's highest authority in favor of establishing common development and active solidarity with sub-Saharan countries, according to a report in the La Tribune newspaper. .
Moroccan banking groups, ranked among the top five banking institutions operating in the West African Economic and Monetary Union in 2018, play a leading role in Morocco's presence on the African continent.
According to the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) Banking Commission, in 2018 Moroccan banks acquired 27.8% of the market share in this union and more than 30% of the share of net general income in the region.
The motives of internationalization banking
Hafsa Bakri, the author of the report, said that limiting the wave of internationalization of banks in its apparent form (administrative motives and a strategic option for growth and returns) may suggest that it is an isolated phenomenon lacking the foundations of development.
However, the choice of African markets is not only an individual choice for participating banks, but also reflects a deliberate and strategic collective behavior.
In addition to the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) region, Moroccan banks have already entered the center of the continent, where they are gradually looking to break into the east.
The report cited five main factors that justify the internationalization of Moroccan banks in Africa: the need to support Morocco's new strategy to re-focus the continent, national market imperfections, low rates of banking services and the need for these banks to accompany their clients from Africa's industrial groups. About the amazing growth of Africa.
The Central Bank of Morocco is among the three Moroccan banks most supportive of the growth of the economies of the African continent (Moroccan press) |
Effects of internationalization
The analysis of the evolution of the statistics of the three Moroccan banking groups in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), namely, the Trade Bank Wafa Bank, the Moroccan Bank for External Trade for Africa, which will become Bank of Africa by September, and the Central People's Bank Between 2006 and 2017, shows its rise in the region.
In a country like Burkina Faso, Moroccan banks, which owned only 6% of total bank accounts in 2006, recorded 28.57% in 2015 and 29.96% in 2017 of this total, according to data collected from Of the West African Economic and Monetary Union Banking Commission database.
At the same time, the network of these banking groups increased from 5% to 25% within ten years.
In Mali, according to the same source, total bank credit to Moroccan banking groups amounted to 44.42% of loans in 2015, compared to only 10% in 2007.
It covered 48.21% of enterprises and obtained 36% of customer accounts in 2015, compared to 8.4% of institutions and accounts in 2007.
According to the writer, the share of Moroccan banks in the volume of bank credit provided by the West African Economic and Monetary Union is estimated at 29.6% in 2017, compared with 11% in 2007.
This illustrates the contribution of Moroccan banks to financing the economies of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU).
Moreover, the in-depth analysis of the relationship between the evolution of bank credit provided by Moroccan banks and the private investment cycle in West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) countries shows that the policy of offering bank credit services to Moroccan banks has accompanied economic activity.
During the expansion of real activity, Moroccan banks engaged in a large-scale loan distribution.
Tejari Wafa Bank Looks for New Acquisitions in East Africa (Moroccan Press) |
The other factor affected by the internationalization of Moroccan banks is Morocco's direct investment in Africa.
In view of seeing its customers establish links with competing banks in the countries where they work, Moroccan banks have chosen to follow their clients in Africa. Thus, the internationalization of banking has been self-sustaining since this first stage.
At present, Moroccan banks can be a magnet not only to accompany companies based mainly in Africa but also to attract new Moroccan investors.
Africa "English" .. Future Factor
While Morocco's banking activity on the continent is still focused on Francophone Africa, will the future of Moroccan banks in English-speaking Africa, especially in the East, be of greater interest? The answer may be yes, says the writer.
Indeed, after the Moroccan Foreign Trade Bank already in East Africa, Wafa Bank is looking to make new acquisitions in the region.
The group plans to launch these operations at the end of 2019, from Rwanda, Kenya and Ethiopia.
Its experience in West Africa may also be a source of inspiration for the cloning of Moroccan financial influence in the eastern region of the continent.