Algerian BEA International Obtains Accreditation in France

The Algerian External Bank has officially received the accreditation of its new branch in France, which is expected to begin operations before the end of the current year, as this branch is classified as the most important in the process of opening branches of Algerian banks abroad.

More than 3 million Algerians residing in France are awaiting the launch of this bank, as it will contribute to facilitating the transfer of immigrants’ funds to Algeria, which is still only around two billion dollars annually, despite the large number of Algerians residing abroad.

This branch will also play a role in activating Algerian investment in France in addition to giving the process of exporting “Made in Algeria” products greater flexibility.

Echorouk sources said this bank, whose capital exceeds 100 million euros, has completed all the legal procedures and those related to the documents for its inauguration, and all that remains is the visit of the Algerian delegation to formally inaugurate it, a step that will take place in Paris during the next few weeks, thus increasing the number of Algerian banks’ branches abroad to three, in Paris, Nouakchott and Dakar.

The Algerian authorities have approved three projects to develop public banks at the international level, namely the External Bank of Algeria in France and two banks in Africa, namely the Algerian Union Bank, which was established in Mauritania, and was approved by the Monetary Authority on June 16, 2023 and entered into service on September 20, 2023 and the Algerian Bank of Senegal (ABS), which obtained accreditation from the West African Monetary on April 7, 2023 and entered into service on September 21, 2023. The accreditation application file was also submitted by the External Bank of Algeria (BEA International France) to the French authorities last February.

Algerian government also created the Housing Bank to finance housing projects, as it entered into exploitation on October 20, 2022, by transforming the National Housing Fund from a public institution of an industrial and commercial nature to a public economic institution with shares and obtained accreditation of the Algerian National Bank on December 20, 2022.

An agreement was prepared between the National Housing Bank and the Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development to provide support and technical assistance through the competencies possessed by the Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development, marking the start of the procedure related to the installation and testing of operational functions in May 2023.

The authorities are currently conducting a study on the establishment of a postal bank by the departments of the Ministries in charge of Finance and Post in cooperation with the Bank of Algeria, in addition to introducing two public banks on the Stock Exchange, namely the Algerian Popular Credit and the Local Development Bank, within the framework of reforming the financial market and improving the stock market’s contribution to mobilizing savings.

These two projects are being implemented by launching the process of evaluating the bank to determine the value of its shares and preparing a training plan for all the executives who will accompany this process. Further, several procedures are scheduled to be implemented to concretize this process, according to the road map approved for this purpose.