Societe Generale Group agrees to sell Ghana subsidiary to Attijariwafa Bank

Société Générale has agreed to sell its majority stake in its Ghanaian subsidiary to Morocco-based Attijariwafa Bank, bringing an end to the French banking group’s direct ownership of the business.

The agreement will see Société Générale Group sell its entire 60.22% stake in Société Générale Ghana.

Attijariwafa Bank will acquire 55.22%, while Ghana’s Social Security and National Insurance Trust, SSNIT, will take the remaining 5%.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals, after which Attijariwafa Bank will take over the bank’s operations, including its customers and employees.

The deal follows an announcement in May 2024 that Société Générale Group was reviewing the future of its Ghanaian business.

At the time, the bank’s local management initially dismissed reports that it was leaving Ghana, saying no decision had been taken.

But the group subsequently confirmed that it had begun a strategic review of its 60.22% holding. The Bank of Ghana said in March 2025 that prospective buyers were already engaging with the central bank over the sale.

Société Générale’s departure is part of a wider restructuring by international banking groups across Africa.

French and British banks, including Société Générale, Standard Chartered and Barclays, have been reducing their exposure to several African markets, with analysts citing factors including profitability, risk and the strategic fit of African subsidiaries with their global operations.

In Ghana, the trend has already seen Bank of Baroda wind up its operations in 2018, with Stanbic Bank taking over its deposits and selected loan assets.

Standard Chartered has also announced plans to explore the sale of its Wealth and Retail Banking business in Ghana, although it intends to retain its Corporate and Investment Banking operations. The proposed sale is expected to take between 18 and 24 months and remains subject to regulatory approval.

The changing ownership structure means that while some international groups are scaling back, their businesses are not necessarily disappearing from Ghana.

Instead, ownership is increasingly moving towards African banking groups and local institutional investors.

Attijariwafa Bank, for instance, is a Moroccan pan-African banking group rather than a Ghanaian-owned bank, while SSNIT is a Ghanaian state institution.

The Bank of Ghana’s current register still lists 23 universal banks, including Société Générale Ghana and Standard Chartered, meaning the latest transactions have not yet changed the regulatory structure until the necessary approvals and completion of the deals.