PRESIDENT OTHMAN BENJELLOUN
“Arab Banker of The Year 2007”

A WISE BUSINESSMAN

The experienced banker, Othman Benjelloun, successfully privatised in 1995 BMCE -Banque Marocaine du Commerce Extérieur-, bringing together key players in international finance with the Moroccan flagships in Business and Finance. Under his leadership, BMCE Bank was given a new managerial spirit, combining efficiency, team work, and equity.

BMCE Bank is today at the heart of its Group FinanceCom, which operates in:

- Finance industry, where BMCE Bank is the second private bank and RMA Watanya the leading insurance company.
- Telecommunication, media, and technologies, with MEDITELECOM, the first private telecom company, FINATECH, a holding of leading companies in NIT, and ATCOM, the group’s media subsidiary.
- And industries such as tourism and transportation.

A BANKER WITH A CONQUERING SPIRIT

Anchored in its Moroccan roots, BMCE Bank Group, with its multinational vocation and a universal managerial culture, creates monetary and social value for the benefit of its shareholders and the Moroccan economy.

Othman BENJELLOUN, the pioneering banker, has given fresh impetus to innovative financial operations :

- Successful bid for the second GSM license in Morocco for an amount of 1 billion dollar by his group, along with renowned partners, Telefonica and Portugal Telecom.
- First GDR program issued by a bank in the region.
- First issue of a perpetual subordinated debt concluded with IFC.

A PATRIOTIC INVESTOR

Embodying the Moroccan entrepreneurial spirit, Othman BENJELLOUN has built a financial conglomerate, which enjoys international aura and avowed African ambitions. This financial group endeavours, through value creation, to give a tangible content to the collective effort geared towards the modernisation of Moroccan economy, by providing it with all the assets necessary for the era of globalisation.

- Creation of BMCE Capital, which is now leader in investment banking activities, especially with its trading room, recognised as the most innovative and most sophisticated in the whole region.
- Set up of MediCapital Bank, based in London, being the first Moroccan bank to be incorporated under the Laws of the UK, hence giving BMCE Bank Group the international dimension of a reference bank in corporate, investment banking and markets activities in Africa and the Mediterranean region.
- Expansion of the bank’s presence in Africa - the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa – through the set up of own structures and equity holdings, especially in Bank of Africa Group
- Opening of representations in the Asian continent - Beijing, Shanghai - which represent more and more the world’s geo-economic epicentre.
- Creation of Finatech Group, which aims at running an ecosystem of technologies in Morocco and abroad, and ATCom, the media subsidiary, which has the ambition to position itself on the African continent.

A BANKER WHO STRIVES FOR NATIONAL INTERESTS

Othman BENJELLOUN has always held the ultimate national interest as his paramount concern while conducting his daily banking business, striving for a greater access to financial services, and devising outreaching activities towards new segments of the Moroccan population.

- President of the Moroccan Banking Association since 1995, making of it a trustworthy interlocutor.

- Founding member and Deputy Chairman for Overseas of the World Union of Arab Bankers, a non governmental organisation created in 2006.

- Participating member of the Arab Thought Foundation, created by Prince Khalid El Faysal Ibnou Abbdelaziz as a solidarity initiative between the intellectuals and the business community to ensure the development of the Arab Nation.

- Designated officer of the Order of the Throne of the Kingdom of Morocco and Commander of the Polar Star of the Kingdom of Sweden

- Awarded the Commander’s Medal in the Order of National Lion of the Republic of Senegal, and recently, the illustrious «Ecomienda de Numero de la Orden de Isabel la Catolica » of the Kingdom of Spain.

- Named as the African banker of the year in 2000.

- Awarded the trophy « Lifetime Achievement » at the African Banker Awards in Washington in 2007.

- Elected Banker of the year 2007-2008 by the Union of Arab Banks.

A VISIONARY BANKER WITH A CONTINENTAL SPIRIT.

President of the Union of Banks of the Maghreb since June 2007, Othman Benjelloun wishes to foster economic and financial integration between Maghreb countries through the creation of a common electronic payment card and a single currency for Maghreb countries by the year 2010.
The alliance between BMCE Bank Group and Bank of Africa comes as part of the national strategy that aims at turning Morocco’s financial centre into a regional hub. What is at stake is the multiplication and the diversification of the exchanges and investments between Sub-Saharan Africa and Morocco and beyond the Maghreb region. Among its numerous strategic objectives, this alliance will try to promote a greater economic growth in the region, fostering sustainable development, social equity, and regional equilibrium for the benefit of the one billion inhabitants of Africa.

A PHILANTHROPIST WITH VALUES OF BENEVOLENCE AND OPENESS

In his capacity as a chancellor of Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, from 1998 to 2004, Othman Benjelloun has contributed to bringing the university to the level of outstanding international academies, thanks to his adherence to economic patriotism, cultural universalism, and to his upholding of the values of excellence and merit.

He also tries to instil inside his group the timeless shared human and citizenship values, driven by a management of benevolence. His guiding principle is his conviction that the profits made by BMCE Bank Group should remunerate the efforts of the human capital. The employee stock sale programs in 2003 and 2005 perfectly illustrate a culture of staff motivation through profit sharing.

Othman Benjelloun, the art lover and advocate of Moroccan culture, sponsors, through his group, major national cultural, social and sports events such as the yearly “Festival of the World’s Sacred Music” in Fez, Essaouira’s festival “Gnaouas et Musiques du Monde”, the national festival of Andalusian music, and the Marrakech International Film Festival. The restoration the Medersa Bouananiya in Fez can also be added to his credit. In 2008, he figures among the co-sponsors of Mohammed VI Academy for the promotion of national soccer.


HIS FLAGSHIP PROJECT IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The Medersat.com programme for the building and management of dozens of community schools in rural areas, conducted by BMCE Bank Foundation, is a clear illustration of this commitment in sustainable development.

This exemplary model of social commitment aims at fighting illiteracy and promoting integrated community development through health and sports education, electrification, the supply of drinking water to douars, environment protection, cultural commitment through the promotion of the Amazigh language and support to various cultural events, and the development of micro credits.