The SUNU group has sold its shares in the capital of the International Bank for Trade and Industry of Côte d'Ivoire (BICICI) for 22 billion FCFA. Brandon & McAin Capital, an investment company founded by Ahmed Cissé, the president of the Ivorian employers' association and president of the bank's board of directors now holds 19.11% of BICICI

The banking insurance group SUNU gives way to Brandon & McAin Capital. According to a publication by Sika Finance, Brandon & McAin Capital will have acquired just over 3.185 million shares, at a nominal cost of 6,945 FCFA, representing an investment of 22.12 billion FCFA

In 2022, BNP Paribas sold the 54% of the capital it held to the African banking group SUNU. On 15 February 2023, BNP Paribas and Proparco, a subsidiary of the French Agency for Development, formalized the sale of BICICI to a consortium of Ivorian public institutions, for 122 million euros. Although BICICI was created in 1962, two years after the country's independence, the presence of the French bank in Abidjan dates back to 1940

BICICI, which was still 59.8% owned by BNP Paribas, generated a profit of 14.6 million euros in 2021. After the departures of Senegal or Gabon, this sale completes the disengagement from sub-Saharan Africa, on the basis of legal cases related to its past activities on the continent. About ten years ago, BNP Paribas decided to start a strategic withdrawal. The bank was then entangled in a tug of war with the American courts, which accused it of having violated the economic embargo in several countries including Sudan

Presented at the time as one of the serious candidates for the takeover of BICICI in its capacity as the second largest shareholder after BNP Paribas, the SUNU group had seen the establishment come under the control of an Ivorian public consortium composed of the BNI (National Investment Bank), the CDC-CI (Caisse de DépÔts and Consignments) as well as pension funds (CNPS and CGRAE), which together took over