BCP Bank Mauritius the partner of choice for traders within the African continent

Abdelwafi Atif, CEO, BCP Bank Mauritius, and Sangeetha Ramkelawon, Deputy CEO, BCP Bank Mauritius

BCP Bank (Mauritius) relies on its expertise in the continent's 54 markets and the Mauritian financial centre to reinforce its positioning to accompany investors and traders in Africa and connect the business worlds of Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

"Investment and trade between the UAE and many African countries have been registering a steady growth in recent years. As part of the BCP Group, we have an extensive presence on the African continent with a solid footprint in 18 countries, principally in North and West Africa, and we can boast of accompanying investors and traders in key countries of opportunities such as Côte d'Ivoire and Senegal. Today, we are positioning ourselves as the partner of choice for a number of businesses in their expansion within the continent, thanks to our deep knowledge of the markets in the region," shares Abdelwafi Atif, CEO of BCP Bank (Mauritius) Ltd. The award-winning Group, headquartered in Morocco, also has a subsidiary in Abu Dhabi Global Markets zone, whose main role is to connect the opportunities and international presence in 32 countries.

Indeed, the market dynamics and investment and trade patterns between the UAE and Africa are acquiring new dimensions, with a number of countries in West Africa emerging as important destinations for imports and exports. Not only is the UAE one of the leading exporter of goods to several African countries, it is also among the top 10 importer of goods and commodities for many African countries.

"Mauritius is often labelled as the gateway to Africa - we have no foreign exchange control, favouring free flow of capital, a number of DTAAs, and are a member to major African economic blocks such as COMESA and SADC. We are also bilingual in English and French - the two most widely utilised African business languages. At BCP Bank (Mauritius), we are committed to accompany investors and traders from the region in the African continent," highlights Sangeetha Ramkelawon, Deputy CEO at BCP Bank (Mauritius). Indeed, as the go-to bank for trade finance in Africa, BCP Bank (Mauritius) continues to support its clients, especially from the Middle East, Europe and Asia to assist and scale up their trade activities on the continent.

"We work in a complementary approach with the other subsidiaries of BCP Group for financing and also for processes such as due diligence, security perfection and collateral monitoring, allowing us to handle clients’ needs swiftly, without any compromise on the risk aspect. We are also able to handle transactions in FCFA via our local network," underlines Shakil Daby, Director Corporate and Institutional Banking.

Avinash Jahajeeah, Head of Trade Finance and Syndications at BCP Bank (Mauritius), on his side, examines that Africa's production and trade, however, did not remain unscathed during the Covid-19 pandemic. Supply of various commodities has been affected by mass production shutdowns and supply chain blockages, and the Ukraine-Russia conflict is multiplying the hurdles and amplifying liquidity constraints. "Most global banks are now often unable to take on a declining African credit and country risks. Leveraging on their balance sheet, larger traders are being privileged by banks with regards to access to banking facilities, thus driving out the smaller ones due to the heightened risk," highlights Avinash Jahajeeah, emphasising that BCP Bank (Mauritius), on the contrary, has decided to stay on top of market developments and continues to provide solutions to boost trade activities in Africa.