What is your retail banking presence in Sub-Saharan Africa?

We have historical ties with Africa. We are present in 11 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa* , which are mainly French-speaking countries with the exception of Ghana. In most of these countries we have either a significant or majority market share.

What is your client and product positioning?

We have a diversified business offer targeting both individual and business clients, as well as a relatively wide range of products from loans to bank cards. These products are available through both our bank branches and distance banking services.
In terms of our business clients, we work with most of the large companies present in these countries, but we are also very involved with SMEs. For example, we signed the ARIZ agreement in partnership with the French Development Agency (AFD) which gives us access to a 50% AFD guarantee on loans.
In addition, we are working with AFD and Proparco on developing what we call green financing as part of our sustainable development policy, which means offering attractive rates on green projects. We are also implementing this policy in our organic development plan, for example via the installation of a solar generator on the roof of our head office in Burkina Faso that will provide 50% of the electricity required. We are also working on concepts for ecological and economical branches.

How would you describe your development strategy?

Our strategy is in line with the Ambition SG 2015 programme. It is based on expanding our branch network and offering our clients increasingly innovative solutions. We want to consolidate our market share, improve the quality of our customer services and develop our distance banking tools.
To this end, we are developing mobile banking services. On June 29 we launched Yoban’tel in Senegal, which is an innovative service for transferring money and paying bills by mobile phone. This initial launch is just the first step in a general rollout programme across Sub-Saharan Africa, which is an area where only 6% to 7% of the population have access to banking facilities. Given this limited market, mobile banking, which is one of the Client focuses of our transformation programme, is an important development.

What are your targets in terms of opening branches?

In Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal, we open 10 to 15 branches a year. In other countries, the rate of development is slightly slower, with two to three new branches per year.

What are your future plans for Sub-Saharan Africa?

Our aim is to consolidate our market share and monitor any growth opportunities. We have historical links with the continent and are keen to maintain our leading position.
We have started to pool our back office activities so as to reduce costs and to be more reactive in terms of offering innovative products that can attract new clients.

How do you explain the fact that your competitors’ expansion has slowed over the last two years?

This is probably due to the fact that large local companies have remained loyal to their traditional banks. Our past history is a genuine advantage!

Do you see the competition between banks as a threat?

When competition is healthy, then it is to be applauded as it forces us to examine the way we do things.
We have made significant development efforts in order to be much closer to our traditional customer base. Our innovative prowess will help us maintain or even improve our market share.
The latest statistics from African Banker show that Société Générale Group is the leader in Sub-Saharan Africa despite the presence of new players in the market.
Faced with this aggressive competition, we will continue to develop professionally and cautiously, in keeping with culture at Societe Generale.

In your opinion, what makes the African continent so attractive?

Sub-Saharan Africa is a region that continues to generate positive growth. We forecast GDP growth of 4%-5% in 2010. These figures reveal that, despite the economic crisis, results in the region have been stable.
We pay close attention to the development of the African continent, even if large infrastructure investments are still not in place, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa (Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire). There will probably be some progress made in this area given the numerous elections taking place in these countries in 2010 and 2011.

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* Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Madagascar, Mauritania, Senegal, Chad.