Despite the fact that it is still quite young, BAI has
always acted in a proactive way, and today – besides
being the largest Angolan bank in term of assets – it is
also the most internationalised Angolan bank
provided $400m to finance the programme.
» In July 2008, the bank led a syndicate to finance the operations
of the largest private oil company in Angola in the amount of
$92m participating in it with $60m.
» In August 2008, BAI financed the purchase of buses for public transportation
in the amount of $375m.
» BAI was mandated to arrange a $168m syndicated facility for the
implementation of a sugar, alcohol and energy mill. In September
2008 the facility was available and BAI participated with $57m.
» In 2009, the bank signed a contract with the government to
finance the production and distribution of 40 million school
books. The credit facility amounts to $150m. One of the main
purposes of the initiative is to revitalise the printing industry in
Angola and contribute to reduce the imports of school books.
Internationalisation
Despite the fact that it is still quite young, BAI has always acted
in a proactive way, and today – besides being the largest Angolan
bank in term of assets – it is also the most internationalised Angolan
bank, being present in three continents: Africa (Cape Verde
and São Tomé and Principe) Europe (Portugal) and South America
(Brazil). Some of these are highly competitive and regulated markets
in which BAI has achieved some success. An example of BAI’s
international operations success is the increase of BAI Europa share
capital, during 2008/2009, by €22.5m to finance its rapid growth,
in a period of world financial and economic crisis.
Corporate social responsibility
BAI’s management understands that the banks’ success depends on
the commitment it has with the community in order to contribute to
its development. With regards to CSR, BAI has chosen to provide
financial services to the poorest and support and promote mainly
cultural and sports initiatives. For instance, in 2008, BAI increased
its capital in NovoBanco by $5m. NovoBanco is a small microfinance
bank where BAI holds a majority stake of 85.7 percent in
partnership with Chevron Sustainable Development (14.3 percent).
BAI’s investments in NovoBanco follows a CSR rationale, since it
aims at providing banking services to the poorest sections of the Angolan
population, allowing BAI to share its profits with the community.
Moreover, in the last 18 months BAI donated $1.7m mainly
to support and promote cultural and sports activities. The activities
included, for instance, BAI’s resumption of its BAI Arte brand, a
platform to share with the community the works of the most established
Angolan artists through exhibitions. BAI’s involvement and
support of sports activities have secured it a deal with the Angolan
Basketball Federation to name the national basketball championship
as BAI CUP for the next three sports seasons.
In 2008 BAI added another country to its opereations with
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World Finance | Nov - Dec 2009
the opening of BAI Cape Verde, a bank where it holds a 71 percent
stake. BAI is also present in Portugal with BAI Europa (99.99
percent stake), Brazil with BPN Brasil (20 percent stake) and São
Tomé and Príncipe with BISTP ( 25 percent stake).
The 48 percent increase in the number of clients is partially
explained by the 47 percent increase in the number of branches.
Accounting for the enlargement of BAI’s client base was also the
introduction of a very attractive savings solution in local currency,
“Rendimento a Campeão”, a 90 days Certificate of Deposit in local
currency yielding 10 percent p.a. In 2009, BAI followed on its
tradition to innovate offering the best terms in the Angolan market
for a 90 days Certificate of Deposit in local currency with the introduction
of a product yielding 15 percent p.a. and with a prize (an
apartment) at stake.
BAI kept furthering market penetration, by increasing the
number of ATM’s and Points of Sale (POS’s) which grew 77 percent
and 178 percent respectively. The bank’s sales force managed
to persuade an increasing number of businesses on the advantages
of its POS’ solution terms. Though the commissions charged per
transaction are similar for all banks, BAI, as opposed to its competitors,
does not charge a maintenance fee for POSs.
The number of debit cards in circulation grew from 74.979
in 2007 to 133.830 in 2008 as the bank strived to provide a card
to each of its clients.
Business performance
2008 2007 Percent change
Revenue 416 236 76.15
Profits 166 78 112.07
Equity Capital 526 227 131.25
Assets 7.625 3.650 108.92
Countries 5 4
Clients 188.696 127.856 47.58
Branches 1 72 49 46.94
Debit Cards 133.830 74.979 78.49
POS’s 372 134 177.61
ATM’s 83 47 76.60
1 Includes counters at strategic locations (eg ports/customs, universities campuses) offering a
limited number of transactions
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