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Is Bank of Africa’s Othman Benjelloun planning for his retirement?

By Bilal Mousjid

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Posted on May 9, 2022 10:07

 Othman Benjelloun at the China-Africa Forum in Marrakech, November 2017. © Jean-Michel Ruiz/CAIF for JA.
Othman Benjelloun at the China-Africa Forum in Marrakech, November 2017. © Jean-Michel Ruiz/CAIF for JA.

Othman Benjelloun’s taste for mystery is matched only by his thirst for development. Although the 91-year-old Bank of Africa’s patriarch has no plans to retire, the question of his succession is coming up again.

“He forgets his age. He should not be reminded of it,” says one of Othman Benjelloun’s lieutenants. At 91, the second richest man in Morocco, according to Forbes, continues to preside over the destiny of the Bank of Africa group (BOA, formerly BMCE BOA), which unveiled a solid performance for 2021 at the end of March.

With a net result of some 2bn MAD ($199m), up 47% compared to 2020, his group even boasts of a “record level never reached”, as regards results excluding subsidiaries, which represented 1.5bn MAD in 2021.

Bank of Africa’s name has recently been associated with a scandal involving an investigation into fraud and falsification of banking documents as part of the Babour Sghir case, the member of parliament accused of defrauding people of €30m through loans and overdraft facilities, but the bank intends to continue its momentum. During the presentation of the results, the

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