In an interview with Jeune Afrique, Société Générale's Africa manager, Laurent Goutard disputes any departure from the continent. It recalls the dynamism and "firepower" of the multinational.

The net banking income of the AFMO business unit grew by +4% last year, after a year 2020 marked by the health crisis and with industrial investments delayed by the logistics crisis. For the manager, 2021 has been a year of recovery, with decent but moderate growth. Sub-Saharan Africa recorded good activity, with driving countries such as Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, Cameroon, as well as Madagascar, which is making a very big year 2021.

" We see Africa as a growth driver. Our model, our capabilities and the support of the Societe Generale group allow us to believe in it. If at some point we could not apply the group's compliance policies, there would be an impossibility to continue to operate, but this is not the case today ," he said of the rumor about a possible departure from the African continent.

Note that the bank has been present in Morocco, for more than 110 years; in Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon and Senegal, for more than 60 years; in Burkina Faso or Madagascar, for more than 20 years.