Three commercial banks operating in Cameroon want to take control of the Cameroonian subsidiary of the French banking group Société Générale by buying the shares currently held by the State (83.68%), following the agreement reached between the two parties and announced on July 15, 2025 by the Cameroonian Minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motaze. These banks are BGFIBank, NSIA Bank, and Zenith Bank. These credit institutions would like to take advantage of the government’s willingness, expressed by the Cameroonian Minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motaze, to open the capital of Société Générale Cameroon “to national and/or international financial partners”.
First on the list is the Gabonese and French international bank (BGFI), already present in the Cameroonian market. With experience in acquiring French group subsidiaries in Africa after being bought by a country. Furthermore, the president of the BGFI group, Henri-Claude Oyima, stated in an interview with the French press on May 31, 2024, that “all the opportunities that Société Générale can offer interest us. We are embarking on a new external growth strategy.” A year ago, the Gabonese bank had acquired the Congolese subsidiary of Société Générale, following the preemptive right exercised by the Congo.
According to sources close to the matter, the New Inter-African Insurance Company (NSIA), which wants to expand its activities in the banking sector of Central Africa, is also in the running to acquire the Cameroonian subsidiary of Société Générale. According to internal sources, “the insurance group led by Ivorian Jean Kacou Diagou has already started discussions with the network of Société Générale Cameroon.” The same sources reveal that “Jean Kacou Diagou visited Yaoundé in mid-June 2025, where he was received by Louis-Paul Motaze, to once again express his group’s interest in Société Générale Cameroon.”
The third applicant, the Nigerian bank Zenith Bank, listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange, is interested in expanding in the sub-region. It relies on its Nigerian experience to offer interesting financial solutions to Cameroonian depositors.
