(Ecofin Agency) - Vista Group is among the African companies that are taking advantage of Société Générale’s decision to exit more African countries. 

Société Générale, the French banking group, sold its subsidiaries in Burkina Faso and Mozambique to the Vista Group, a pan-African banking group owned by Burkinabe Simon Tiemtoré.  The French group announced the full sale in a statement dated December 7, 2023.

"Under our agreements, the Vista group would take over all the activities operated by these subsidiaries as well as all the customer portfolios and all the employees of these entities," Societe Generale said in its release, without disclosing the financial details of the transactions. The Group’s stakes in the two subsidiaries stand at 52.6% (Burkina Faso) and 65% (Mozambique). 

"The completion of each of these transactions, which could take place in 2024, is subject to the approval of the entities' governance bodies, the usual conditions precedent and the validation of the competent financial and regulatory authorities,” Société Générale added. 

Already in June 2023, Société Générale revealed it was selling to the Vista Group its stakes in its subsidiaries in Congo Brazzaville and Equatorial Guinea. The move was opposed by the two governments concerned who said they would exercise their pre-emption rights.

Around the same time, the French lender announced its exit from Mauritania and Chad, selling its stakes to Coris Holding, another lender owned by a Burkinabe banker, Idrissa Nassa.

Once it exits Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Mauritania, Chad, Burkina Faso, and Mozambique,  Société Générale will remain present in 10 African countries.

Exiting these markets was the first decision of Slawomir Krupa once he took over the French group’s helm. This decision, Krupa explained, would help “refine the institution’s capital use”.

It is worth noting that the Bank could also exit Tunisia soon; a "strategic review" of its 52.34% stake in Tunisia's Union Internationale de Banques (UIB) is underway.

Regarding the Vista Group, Société Générale is not the only French lender whose subsidiaries it has been taking over. The pan-African group became a majority stakeholder in BNP Paribas’ subsidiaries in Guinea Conakry and Burkina Faso in 2021. Vista Group was able to buy the stakes (55% and 51% respectively) using a €59 million financing it obtained from the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank).