Wema Bank in Partnership with Bank of Africa on Trade Facilitation

Wema Bank Plc has signed a multi-country partnership agreement with the Bank of Africa Group (BOA) as it looks to facilitate bilateral trade services for its customers across Africa.

The two entity signed the partnership agreement recently which was done by the MD/CEO of Wema Bank Plc, Mr Ademola Adebise and CEO of BOA Group, Mr Amine Bouabid, in the presence of the Head Brand and Marketing Communications, Wema Bank, Mrs Funmilayo Falola and BOA GROUP Chairman, Mr. Brahim Benjelloun Touimi, and other executives of both banks.

According to a statement, Adebise signed on behalf of Wema Bank, while Bouabid signed on behalf of all BOA subsidiary banks.

Following the terms of the agreement, the two financial institutions committed to deepening the relationship between them around the Pan-African trade ecosystem (trade facilitation, correspondent banking etc.).

It is noteworthy, over the years, Wema Bank has been passionate about supporting individuals and businesses in Nigeria. With the new partnership, it has expanded its frontier to include trans-African trade with a promise to deliver sustainable and value-adding support for business growth and profitability across the continent,” the statement explains.

Adebise further speaking on the partnership: “At Wema Bank, digital innovation is in our DNA and we are bringing that same creativity to our partnership with BOA. This partnership will allow us to expand and redefine the galaxy of opportunities available to our individual and corporate customers as we lead them into the African continent off the back of the new African Continental Free Trade Agreement.

“With this partnership, our customers will now have seamless business transactions across countries with Bank of Africa’s presence.

“It is an absolute joy for us to be able to make doing business easier for our customers in partnership with the Bank of Africa,” Adebise stated.

Adebise, also added that both banks would further benefit from an opportunity to promote bilateral trade services which will include import and export services, bonds and guarantees, and structured finance collaborations, under the new partnership agreement.

On his part, Bouabid, said the agreement with Wema was in line with his group’s drive to always offer innovative, simple and useful solutions to customers.

“I hope that the link we create between Wema Bank and BOA will facilitate and therefore increase economic exchanges with this great country that is Nigeria.

“I also see it as an example of collaboration between a Francophone Africa and an Anglophone Africa that must absolutely be encouraged and duplicated.

Conclusively, he added: “I would like to remind you that the Group I head is present in both French and English speaking Africa and that it plays its full role as an economic integrator.” The BOA Group is a pan-African bank with presence in 18 African countries across the Anglophone and Francophone countries, eight of which are in West Africa.