BSIC Group

{{EngvarB|date=August 2024}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}} {{Infobox company | name = BSIC Group | logo = BSIC LOGO.png | type = | slogan = | foundation = {{start date and age|1999}} | location = Tripoli, Libya | key_people = Alhad Mohamed Alwarfalli<br>Président Directeur Général | num_employees = | industry = Banking | products = Banking services <br> financial services | homepage = {{url|http://www.bsicbank.com/}} }}

The '''Banque Sahélo-Saharienne pour l'Investissement et le Commerce''' ({{lit|Sahel-Sahara Bank for Investment and Trade}}) or '''BSIC Group''' is a public multinational commercial bank and investment bank. Established in 1999, it is headquartered in Tripoli, Libya, and owned by the governments of its 14 participating, namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo, and Sudan together with Libya.<ref name=BSIC>{{cite web |website=BSIC Central Africa |url=https://bsicbank.com/centralafrica/les-filiales-du-groupe/ |access-date={{date|2024-12-21}} |title=Les filiales du groupe}}</ref> Its main currency is the euro.<ref name=Marcopolis/>

==Overview==

The BSIC was formed in 1999 at the initiative of Muammar Gaddafi, a year after the Community of Sahel–Saharan States, as an instrument of his leadership ambitions in that region.<ref name=Mahroug/> It opened most of its national subsidiaries in subsequent years, e.g. in Burkina Faso in 2004<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www-leconomistedufaso-com.translate.goog/2024/03/19/retraite-strategique-de-bsic-burkina-faso-degager-des-perspectives-pour-les-prochaines-annees/?_x_tr_sl=fr&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc |title=Strategic Retreat of BSIC-Burkina Faso: Identifying Prospects For The Coming Years |work=L'Economiste du Faso (LECDF) | date=19 March 2024 |author=LCDF |access-date=17 August 2024 |location=Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso |format=Translated from the Original French Language}}</ref> and in Togo in 2005.<ref>{{cite web| work=Togo First |date=31 October 2022 | url=https://www.togofirst.com/en/finance/3110-10862-bsic-now-has-headquarters-in-togo |title=BSIC now has headquarters in Togo | author=Esaïe Edoh |access-date=17 August 2024 |location=Lomé, Togo}}</ref> The Libyan parent entity, known as ''BSIC Siège'', had no local banking operations of its own.<ref name=Marcopolis/>

By 2013, BSIC Group was looking for an external financial partner to shore up its balance sheet,<ref name=Marcopolis>{{cite web|url=https://marcopolis.net/bsic-bank.htm |date=5 August 2013 |title=BSIC: Strategy in Africa |work=Marcopolis.net |author=Marcopolis | access-date=19 August 2024 |location=Paris, France}}</ref> but eventually remained owned by the participating governments.<ref name=BSIC/> Following successive recapitalizations in response to poor financial performance, however, the balance between these evolved over time and BSIC came under increasingly direct Libyan equity control, so that the government of Libya owned 56 percent of its equity by the late 2010s, followed by Sudan with 10 percent.<ref name=Mahroug>{{cite web |website=NewAfrican - Le Magazine de l'Afrique |url=https://magazinedelafrique.com/african-banker/activites-bancaires/la-bsic-en-quete-dun-nouveau-souffle/ |title=La BSIC en quête d’un nouveau souffle |date={{date|2020-01-11}} |author=Moncef Mahroug}}</ref>

In 2019, to meet increased capital requirements, BSIC merged its Ghanaian subsidiary with local peer OmniBank Ghana Ltd to form OmniBSIC Bank.<ref>{{cite web |website=CNR City Newsroom |url=https://citinewsroom.com/2019/03/omnibank-sahel-sahara-bank-complete-merger-now-omnibsic/ |title=OmniBank, Sahel Sahara bank complete merger; now OmniBSIC |date={{date|2019-03-04}} |author=Godwin Akweiteh Allotey}}</ref> By the early 2020s, the BSIC Group was again on a path of dynamic growth.<ref>{{cite web |website=Financial Afrik |title=Le groupe bancaire BSIC en forte progression |date={{date|2024-01-28}} |url=https://www.financialafrik.com/2024/01/28/le-groupe-bancaire-bsic-en-forte-progression/ |author=Dominique Mabika}}</ref>

==See also== * List of banks in Africa

==References== {{reflist|30em}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Banque Sahelo-Saharienne pour l'Investissement et le Commerce}} Category:Banks of Libya Category:Investment banks Category:Banks established in 1999 Category:1999 establishments in Libya Category:Economy of Tripoli, Libya