Morocco, Senegal to set up commercial bank

The Moroccan WAFABANK group and the Senegalese KEUR KHADIM holding are to set up a commercial bank under a partnership accord concluded Wednesday in Rabat.

The bank dubbed "Senbank" will be based in Senegal and will have an initial capital of 5 billion CFA franks, with WAFABANK detaining 51 % and KEUR KHADIM 49 % of the capital.

Under the accord-- that was signed in the presence of President Abdoulay Wade of Senegal, --the two sides pledge to progressively set up the structures of a financial group that will provide to clients a variety of financial services in all the member countries of the West-African economic and monetary union (UEMOA) and of the economic community of west African states (ECOWAS).

The financial group will contribute to promote trade exchanges and investments between Senegal, UEMOA, ECOWAS and Morocco.

UEMOA musters Senegal, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Togo, Mali, Niger, and Guinea Bissau, while ECOWAS groups Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierre Leone, and Togo.