BGFIBank Group

Stock performance

History

BGFIBank began in 1971 as the Gabonese branch of the French bank Paribas. In the 1990s Gabonese shareholders took control and renamed it Banque Gabonaise et Française Internationale (BGFI), and under long-time chief executive Henri-Claude Oyima it expanded across Central and West Africa to become a leading regional banking group.

Business model

BGFIBank provides corporate, retail, and public-sector banking, along with insurance and asset management, through subsidiaries in countries including Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the DRC, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Madagascar, Benin, and Côte d'Ivoire, as well as an office in France.

Market position

BGFIBank is the largest bank in Gabon and one of the largest banking groups in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC).

Country impact

BGFIBank is one of the few large African-owned financial groups to emerge from Central Africa, and as Gabon's leading lender it is closely tied to the state, the oil sector, and public spending.