Chosen for a new five-year mandate at the head of the Cameroonian subsidiary of the Gabonese banking group BGFI Bank, the board of directors held on May 15, 2024 under the chairmanship of Henri-Claude Oyima, the CEO of the group informed Abakal Mahamat new objectives to achieve.
In detail, it will be a question of continuing the implementation of reforms within BGFI Bank Cameroun, which is one of the growth poles of the Gabonese banking group on the African continent. According to the recommendations made by the board of directors, Abakal Mahamat’s missions over the next 5 years will be to expand the group’s customer base through the creation of agencies throughout the country, to capture all market opportunities in order to to further strengthen the presence of the banking institution on Cameroonian soil.
In addition to the missions mentioned above, and this despite an environment which promises to be increasingly competitive because punctuated by the arrival of new banking structures such as Bange Bank, Regional Bank, Acces Bank and very soon Africa Golden Bank of Samuel Foyou ; it will be necessary to continue the implementation of the current three-year plan of BGFIBank Cameroon. By the way, the plan is structured around the development of four main businesses of the group, particularly commercial banking, corporate banking, private banking and insurance.
Alongside these centers to be developed, the Cameroonian branch should aim for a place in the top 5 banks that finance the economy, over the next three years, even if initially, the objective was to appear in the top 2 by 2025. While the Cameroonian banking ecosystem could experience the departure of Société Générale in the short term as well as the sale of assets vested in the State of Cameroon within the Commercial Bank of Cameroon; BGFIbank Cameroon under the Abakal Mahamat era should consolidate its dynamism by taking into account good governance, the transformation of human capital, the effective management of financial and material resources and risk management.
Regarding Abakal Mahamat, it should be noted that he has been at the head of BGFIBank Cameroon since September 2019. Under his administration, the Cameroonian branch has continued to post very good performances, particularly in terms of its net income, which increased from 3 billion FCFA in 2019 to 6.3 billion in 2020, 8 billion in 2021, 10 billion from 2022 and 11 billion FCFA for the financial year ending December 31, 2023.
Furthermore, at the end of 2023, BGFIBank Cameroon under Abakal is positioned as the third bank in terms of loans to private companies, customer outstandings have risen to 345.6 billion FCFA and the structure holds 7.9% of the market share for a dividend of 8.3 billion FCFA at the end of 2023, which the board of directors has also decided to distribute to shareholders.
Overall, for 6 years already, Abakal Mahamat has demonstrated effective management at the head of BGFI Bank Cameroon, and the renewal of his mandate for the next five years is only the result of a managerial policy carried out with rigor and firmness in order to achieve the objectives assigned to him.
