Wema Bank has signed a multi-country partnership agreement with Bank of Africa Group (BOA) as it looks to facilitate bilateral trade services for its customers across Africa.
The partnership agreement was executed on October 14, 2019, by Mr Ademola Adebise, MD/CEO of Wema Bank Plc and Mr Amine Bouabid, CEO of BOA GROUP in the presence of Mrs Funmilayo Falola, Head Brand and Marketing Communications, Wema Bank and Mr. Brahim Benjelloun Touimi, BOA GROUP Chairman, and other executives of both banks.
Mr Adebise signed for Wema Bank Plc while Mr Bouabid signed on behalf of all BANK OF AFRICA subsidiary banks both within and outside the African continent. Under the terms of the agreement, the two financial institutions committed to deepening the relationship between them around the Pan African trade ecosystem (trade facilitation, correspondent banking etc.).
Over the years, Wema Bank has been passionate about supporting individuals and businesses in Nigeria. With the new partnership, it has expanded its frontier to include trans-African trade with a promise to deliver sustainable and value-adding support for business growth and profitability across the continent.
Speaking on the partnership agreement, Mr Adebise said:
“At Wema Bank, digital innovation is in our DNA and we are bringing that same creativity to our partnership with BOA. This partnership will allow us to expand and redefine the galaxy of opportunities available to our individual and corporate customers as we lead them into the African continent off the back of the new African Continental Free Trade Agreement. With this partnership, our customers will now have seamless business transactions across countries with Bank of Africa’s presence. It is an absolute joy for us to be able to make doing business easier for our customers in partnership with the Bank of Africa.”
Mr Adebise also added that both banks will further benefit from an opportunity to promote bilateral trade services which will include Import and Export services, Bonds and Guarantees, and Structured Finance collaborations under the new partnership agreement.
On behalf of the BOA, Amine Bouabid said this about the agreement:
“We are very happy to conclude this partnership with WEMA BANK because it is in line with our will to always offer innovative, simple and useful solutions to our customers, and in this case in particular, to the companies that trust us. I hope that the link we create between WEMA BANK and BANK OF AFRICA will facilitate and therefore increase economic exchanges with this great country that is Nigeria. I also see it as an example of collaboration between a Francophone Africa and an Anglophone Africa that must absolutely be encouraged and duplicated. Lastly, I would like to remind you that the Group I head is present in both French and English speaking Africa and that it plays its full role as an economic integrator. “
BOA Group is a pan-African bank with presence in 18 African countries across the Anglophone and Francophone countries, 8 of which are in West Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Togo and Senegal), 8 in East Africa and the Indian Ocean region (Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda) as well as in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in France.
Working with BOA Group, Wema Bank will act as advising financial institution for import and export trade services, as well as providing backing for its clients with businesses that have cross border transactions in Africa.
As a bank committed to creating innovative financial solutions, Wema Bank will continue to address the needs of individuals and businesses through wide-reaching, efficient and safe banking practices.
