ABIDJAN (Capital Markets in Africa) – NSIA Group’s banking unit plans to expand in the 12 West and Central African countries where the Ivorian company has insurance businesses.

NSIA Banque first wants to establish a firm presence in the West African Economic and Monetary Union before looking “outside the zone,” Managing Director Leonce Yace said in an interview at the bank’s headquarters in Abidjan, the economic capital of Ivory Coast.

The lender recently completed the acquisition of Diamond Bank in Benin, which “holds unique authorization to allow us to open branches in other states” in the region, he said. NSIA Banque also has a presence in Guinea, Togo and Senegal.

The bank, which started trading its shares on the regional West African exchange known as the BRVM in October 2017, is recovering after a turbulent 2018, Yace said. NSIA Banque was hit by regulatory changes in the industry shortly after its listing, a cyber-attack and the bankruptcy of one of Ivory Coast’s largest cocoa exporters.
Other highlights from the interview:

• NSIA Banque is opening a dedicated German desk in 2020 for companies from that country looking to start operations in Ivory Coast and other nations where the bank is present
• Despite news reports that National Bank of Canada was seeking to withdraw from Ivory Coast, the lender participated in the last board meeting “and played its role as a shareholder”
• The company spent six months and millions of CFA Francs overhauling its IT systems following the cyber attack