(Ecofin Agency) - In an evaluation grid produced by an independent investor based in Côte d’Ivoire, it appears that NSIA Bank could soon become the second largest bank in the country behind the local subsidiary of Société Générale.

NSIA Bank, which is managed by Jean Kacou Diagou and was recently listed on the BRVM, is already the largest commercial bank in terms of network with 82 agencies (according to a 2017 banking situation in the sub-region published by the banking commission). However, on some other segments such as the total assets, number of accounts opened, credit granted and customer deposits, it occupied the fourth and fifth places.

For Brice Kouao who leads a stock market trading school in Côte d’Ivoire, things would change with NSIA Bank’s acquisition of the four subsidiaries of the Nigerian bank Diamond Bank within the WAEMU. He concludes that by consolidating the volume of credit granted by Diamond Bank Côte d'Ivoire in 2017, NSIA Bank will be the second bank in that segment with a total of XOF784.3 billion, ahead of Atlantique Banque whose granted credits was XOF712.5 billion.

But, many parameters, such as the strong performance of the banks being compared, will be taken into consideration for the ranking. Therefore, this assumption is not enough to support a decision to invest in the bank’s shares. Its market capitalization has slumped by 60.3% since its peak of June 20, 2018, and the bank must still deal with the challenges created by the decline in the price of cocoa (a sector it is exposed to).  

Idriss Linge