Togo: IB Holding buys majority stake in State-owned bank BTCI

Banking

Saturday, 14 August 2021 02:30

Togo: IB Holding buys majority stake in State-owned bank BTCI

(Togo First) - IB Holding, owned by construction mogul Mahamadou Bonkoungou, will get an 8.2% stake in the BTCI, one of Togo’s two remaining State-owned banks. This was disclosed by the government at the end of the council of ministers held on August 11.

Lomé said it has started selling part of its stake in the lender’s shareholding, “in line with its ambition to build partnerships with the private sector, and speed up economic growth.”

The deal, whose amount is yet to be revealed, completes the bank’s privatization - a process launched in 2019, after the State gave up on its first option, a merger. At the time, about 100 private investors said they wanted to buy BTCI shares. Only five, however, responded to the government’s call for tenders to get a benchmark investor.

IB Holding will, therefore, secure a majority stake in the bank in which the State will keep 10% . The sale should, according to the government, “boost banks’ contribution to the national economy,” and the State “will protect the interests of workers and bolster the financial system.”

Last January, Mahamadou Bonkoungou, owner of IN Holding, launched IB Bank in Djibouti. The lender, previously Banque de l’Habitat du Burkina Faso (BHBF), was bought and renamed by the businessman in 2018. Bonkoungou, after making his fortune with EBOMAF, a construction company, now eyes the banking sector.

Fiacre E. Kakpo

REFORMS OVERVIEW

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At the fifteenth position, worldwide, and first in Africa, under the Starting a Business index of the 2020 Doing Business ranking, Togo sustains its reformative dynamics with more reforms….

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CONTRACT EXECUTION (more info)

Creation of special chambers of commerce for small debts • Creation of chambers of commerce at the Court of Appeal • Civil and commercial cases now handled by distinct clerks • Establishment of commercial courts in Lomé and Kara • Lawyers and bailiffs now have access to the FORSETI COMMERCIAL platform • A maximum period of 100 days was fixed to settle a commercial dispute .

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In comparison to previous years, Togo has significantly improved its ranking on the “Trading across borders” index by adopting multiple reforms that focus mainly on the digitalization and reduction in delays, for import and export procedures related to import and export.

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