Bank of Africa

Othman Benjelloun controls Bank of Africa through FinanceCom, a family-owned holding company that serves as the group's largest shareholder. FinanceCom also holds stakes in Moroccan insurance, agriculture, and telecommunications businesses, making the bank part of a wider family-controlled industrial conglomerate.

The group deploys capital primarily through its corporate banking and asset management divisions, using its regulated balance sheet alongside third-party client mandates. Its private equity arm, BOA Capital, originates deals through the group's extensive commercial banking network across 20 African countries, giving it access to proprietary deal flow in markets where relationship banking dominates.

Bank of Africa is a publicly traded company listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange, but the Benjelloun family retains effective control through FinanceCom. The German development finance institution DEG and other institutional investors hold significant minority positions, making the governance structure a hybrid of family control and public-market accountability.

The group operates in approximately 20 African countries, with its strongest presence in francophone West Africa — including Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, and Mali. It has also expanded into East Africa through operations in Kenya and Uganda, and maintains a presence in the Maghreb region beyond its Moroccan home market.

Bank of Africa conducts private equity investments through BOA Capital, targeting mid-market companies across North and West Africa. Unlike a conventional fund manager, it draws on the parent bank's permanent capital base, allowing it to hold portfolio companies for longer periods without being forced to exit on a fund-cycle timeline.