Djiboutian bank, Red Sea Trade & Industry Bank (BCIMR), opened a representative office here in Ethiopia. The inaugural ceremony which was held in Sheraton Addis was attended by the Bank’s director general Jean Pierre Gianotti.
BCIMR is a subsidiary of the French banking group Bred Banque Populaire Group (BPCE group). The French banking group owns 51 percent of the bank while the Djibouti government and Yemeni Bank own 33 percent and 16 percent respectively.
According to BCIMR’s website, it operates in all market segments such as personal, business, public sector and institutional. It mainly gives service in Djibouti, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Yemen, and UAE. The bank offers its customers loans and financing, deposit and cash management, payment, trade finance, local and international guarantees.
Ahmed Abdou Mohsein, the office representative in Ethiopia, noted most of Ethiopian banks have a correspondent banking relation with BCIMR. Abyssinia, Awash, Dashen and Wegagen are among the banks.
In addition to this the bank will provide information and facilitate investment opportunities in Ethiopia for Djiboutian investors as it advances its presence in Ethiopia, Ahmed added.
Wegagen Bank’s International Banking Director, Atakilt Admasu, on his part said the representative office is going to enhance communication and management of delays and also communicate documents easily and quickly.
According to Ahmed, it took around three weeks to furnish and open the representative office. The office acquired its license from the Ministry of Trade on January 2015.
The representative office enables clients to save money and time as it serves an intermediate office for clients to communicate with the Bank without leaving Ethiopia, Ahmed noted.
BCIMR funded large regional projects such as the electrical interconnection between Djibouti and Ethiopia in collaboration with the French Development Agency.
According to Fortune, BCIMR represents an average of 60 percent market share in the Djiboutian economy when it comes to deposits and loans and 85 percent of signed commitments.
Source: Fortune
