• Africa looks smaller in SG’s 2025 accounts mainly due to subsidiary sales, not a collapse in demand or operating activity.

• SG exits some markets but stays selective: Tunisia reinforced, South Africa retained, Ghana exit not yet fully finalized.

• Investment banking and services in Africa remain active, even as SG reduces balance-sheet exposure and market leadership.

At first glance, Société Générale’s 2025 figures released on February 6th seem to confirm a familiar narrative: the French banking group is steadily retreating from Africa. Net banking income attributed to the continent fell sharply in 2025, while assets and liabilities contracted in parallel. Yet a closer reading of the data suggests a more nuanced reality. Africa is indeed getting smaller in Société Générale’s financial statements — but the underlying business, where it remains active, has proven more resilient than the headline numbers imply.

In 2025, Société Générale reported €1.35 billion in net banking income for Africa, down from €2.02 billion in 2024. Total assets in the region declined to €17.35 billion, from €19.1 billion, while liabilities fell to €15.53 billion, from €17.25 billion. Taken in isolation, these figures point to a significant contraction. But they primarily reflect a deliberate and accelerated reshaping of the group’s African footprint rather than a collapse in operating performance.

A contraction driven by perimeter, not demand

The decisive factor behind the decline is the exit of several subsidiaries from the consolidation scope. Over the course of 2025, Société Générale finalised the sale of multiple African entities, including its operations in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mauritania and Equatorial Guinea. These transactions automatically reduced the group’s reported African revenues, assets, and deposits because businesses that contributed to the 2024 figures were no longer consolidated in 2025.

This effect is visible at the balance-sheet level. Assets classified as “held for sale” fell dramatically between end-2024 and end-2025, indicating that a large pipeline of African disposals has now been executed. In other words, Africa is shrinking in the accounts largely because parts of Africa are no longer there.

However, when the focus shifts from geography to operating platforms, the picture becomes less pessimistic. Within Société Générale’s reporting segment covering Africa, the Mediterranean Basin and Overseas, revenues grew by 2.7% in 2025, reaching €1.54 billion. Deposits in this perimeter edged higher, and loan outstandings remained broadly stable, supported by continued growth in the retail customer base. This suggests that the businesses retained by the group continue to generate steady activity, even as the overall footprint narrows.

Selective exits — and selective commitments

Crucially, Société Générale’s African strategy is not a blanket withdrawal. The group is exiting where scale, profitability, or risk-adjusted returns no longer meet its criteria. Still, it is choosing to stay — and, in some cases, to double down — where it sees long-term value.

Tunisia is the clearest illustration. After launching a strategic review of its subsidiary Union Internationale de Banques (UIB) in 2023, Société Générale explored several options, including a potential sale. In early 2025, after more than a year of evaluation, the group reversed course. It decided not to divest UIB, opting instead to strengthen the bank with the support of its co-shareholders. Société Générale remains the majority shareholder and has explicitly reaffirmed its commitment to Tunisia, making the country an exception to the broader divestment trend.

Ghana offers a different case. While Société Générale Ghana has been widely perceived as part of the exit wave, the transaction has not yet been fully finalised. From an accounting perspective, the group applied IAS 29H, Hyperinflation Accounting, to its Ghanaian subsidiary until September 2025, reflecting macroeconomic conditions rather than an ownership change. Operationally, the entity's future remains subject to ongoing negotiations, underscoring that not all African exits are complete or irreversible.

Beyond these markets, Société Générale also maintains a presence in South Africa, notably through its securities services activities. This reinforces the idea that the group’s African map is being redrawn, not erased.

Investment banking still matters — even with less dominance.

Another important dimension often missed in the “Africa exit” narrative is investment banking. While Société Générale’s leadership in African investment banking has weakened relative to previous years, the group remains active in financing, advisory, capital markets and transaction services linked to the continent. These activities are frequently booked outside local retail subsidiaries and therefore do not always appear in Africa’s geographic revenue line.

In 2025, Société Générale posted strong results in Global Banking & Advisory, with revenues rising and financing and advisory activities reaching record levels globally. African corporates and sovereign-related transactions remain part of this flow, even as the group reduces its on-the-ground balance-sheet exposure. The shift is strategic: fewer capital-intensive retail assets, more fee-based and cross-border business.

A strategic downsizing, not a collapse

Ultimately, Société Générale’s African story in 2025 is less about retreat than about re-engineering. The sharp fall in reported African revenues reflects a smaller perimeter following multiple disposals. At the same time, the businesses that remain show resilience, with stable deposits, modest growth in operating platforms, and continued relevance in investment banking and services.

For investors and observers, the key question for the future is not whether Africa will continue to shrink in Société Générale’s accounts — it likely will — but what kind of Africa remains. The answer points to a leaner, more selective presence, focused on markets where the group believes it can combine acceptable returns, controlled risk and strategic relevance.

Idriss Linge