Global Finance: Please describe BSIC Group and why the Sénégal subsidiary is important to its African strategy.
Sami Gargouri: BSIC Group, or Banque Sahélo-Saharienne pour l'Investissement et le Commerce, is an African public bank founded in 1999 as an important institution of the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD). Headquartered in Tripoli, Libya, it is managed by the governments of 14 African countries, including Libya (the majority of stakeholders), Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Chad, Guinea Conakry, Togo, Central African Republic (CAR), Niger, Sudan, Ghana, and 2 representative offices in Morocco representing financial and private resources in Morocco and economic resources in Morocco and Tunisia. social development, fighting poverty, and promoting intra-regional trade throughout the Sahel-Sahara region. Operating as a commercial and investment bank, BSIC offers services ranging from loans and asset management (BSIC Capital) to financing, supporting SMEs, the agricultural industry, and cross-border trade. Its strategy emphasizes regional integration, financial inclusion, and innovation to stimulate growth in underserved areas, consistent with CEN-SAD's goals of anti-poverty and economic integration.
The Senegalese subsidiary, BSIC Sénégal SA, is important to the African strategy because of its location in a stable, dynamic West African economy with a strong entrepreneurial system and high mobile revenue. Launched in Dakar, it serves more than 50,000 clients through a network of branches in key locations such as Thiès, Mbour, Saint Louis, Touba and Kaolack, extending services to local sectors such as agriculture, SMEs, and exports that directly support BSIC's mission of intra-regional trade. As a bridge between French-speaking and English-speaking Africa, BSIC Sénégal enhances the group's diversity, gains market share in Senegal's competitive banking sector (aiming for top ranking), and explores potential innovations across the group, increasing BSIC's role as an engine of development across Africa.
GF: How has BSIC Sénégal become the center of innovation for the club?
SG: BSIC Sénégal has evolved into the BSIC Group's innovation center by leveraging customer experience, a test-and-learn approach, and diverse partnerships to launch digital solutions designed for West Africa's mobile-first economy. Since its inception, the subsidiary has prioritized digitization, taking direct feedback from SMEs and vendors during meetings to address pain points such as payment delays and limited access to various processing channels. This led to the creation of a dedicated project management office involving departments such as Marketing, IT, Risk, Compliance, Legal, and Logistics, as well as fintech partners for seamless API integration—allowing rapid prototyping and deployment of products such as SMART TPE by November 2023.
BSIC Sénégal has positioned itself as a dynamic player, introducing new offers including digital tools and customer-focused design, such as improved Visa cards, a workspace for economic staff, and the expansion of mobile payments leading to market share gains and improved customer experience. Its benchmarking model, which begins with select vendors before rolling out to the entire group, has made it a testing ground for group programs. This approach promotes financial inclusion, serves as a model for other companies in the field of digital transformation and SME support, and strengthens the role of Sénégal in BSIC's pan-African innovation program.
GF: What is SMART TPE and how is it part of BSIC Group's digital transformation?
SG: SMART TPE (Smart Terminal de Paiement Électronique) is an electronic payment terminal established by BSIC Sénégal in November 2023, designed to improve financial inclusion and merchant efficiency in markets that handle mobile money. It transforms traditional card-based POS terminals into versatile devices that offer customers two payment options: bank card or mobile money through operators such as Orange Money or Wave. When the customer selects mobile money, the terminal displays the operator's choice and generates a QR code for quick scanning and transaction completion – ensuring that the money is deposited directly into the merchant's BSIC account within the same day, bypassing the multi-day delay in direct operator payments. This first-of-its-kind integration into existing POS disrupts the landscape by empowering merchants with better cash management, reduced commissions, and different payment channels. It uses fintech APIs for fast, secure development – ultimately increasing sales by 30-50% in pilots and simplifying the user experience for both merchants and non-bank customers.
As the foundation of BSIC Group's digital transformation, SMART TPE is an example of the group's transition to technology-driven integration, born from customer needs and implemented through a joint pilot that combines IT, monetics, and fintech. It supports BSIC's comprehensive strategy of leveraging digital services across its subsidiaries – developing the API ecosystem, fighting fraud, and scaling mobile solutions in the region – to make banking more accessible, efficient, and aligned with Africa's fintech growth, while advancing the goals of poverty reduction and economic growth.
