At the end of its rating assessment mission, the rating agency Bloomfield Investment Corporation concluded in its report that the BGFIBank Group demonstrates strong long-term credit quality: “Protection factors are sound. However, risk factors are more variable and more significant during periods of economic stress.”
The agency further noted that, in the short term, the Group shows “a high level of certainty of timely repayment, supported by strong liquidity factors and solid protection factors.”

This rating was based on the Group’s performance for the 2020 financial year, as well as on its business outlook for the 2021 financial year. In particular, it takes into account the following key performance drivers:

• Continued strengthening of the governance framework and risk management systems;
• A positive overall assessment of the “Excellence 2020” corporate plan, reflecting a strong ability to achieve set objectives;
• The maintenance of a dominant position in the CEMAC zone despite a slight contraction in market share;
• Solid overall performance, despite a decline in net income due to stagnation in financial revenues;
• Confirmed financial strength, despite the onset of the Covid-19 health crisis.

The main vulnerability factors identified by Bloomfield Investment Corporation include:

• Business activity largely driven by subsidiaries in the CEMAC zone, where economic growth remains moderate;
• Persistent socio-political and security tensions in certain regions where subsidiaries operate.

Reacting to this rating, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the BGFIBank Group, Henri-Claude Oyima, welcomed the outcome, stating:
“This financial rating meets the Group’s requirements in terms of excellence, performance and profitability—principles inherent to our business that have guided the development of our Bank for the past 50 years. An ambition we continue to pursue through the deployment of our new corporate plan, ‘Dynamique 2025.’”