BY NDUMBE BELL GASTON IN DOUALA
(SPECIAL REPORT)
The General Manager of BICEC has disclosed that they realized a balance sheet turn-over of FCFA 10 billion in 2017.
Mr. Alain Ripert made this declaration in an encounter with media practitioners at the laying of the first plate engraving ceremony which happened at their headquarter precincts, last Friday March 23.
The ceremony was to signify the dual innovation of the BICEC building external appearance and their Bonanjo agency’s first floor of the same building, to give them a new facelift and reserve a VIP welcome treatment for their customers.
In speeches delivered by senior managers of BPCE, BICEC and the Board Chair among others, and presided over by the Governor of the Littoral Region, in the presence of other administrative officials of the Board, some BPCE group members, the Paramount Chief of Canton Bell, shareholders and customers, it was gathered that BICEC has bounced back very rapidly to be financially solid after a brief period of dire straits and uncertainties.
According to the Communications and Marketing Director Mme Mpondo, transforming the façade and the interior of the agency situated on the first floor with a strong modern urban facelift, a strong aerial view equipped with solar panels, marks a turning point in the history of BICEC with the intention of achieving underlying performant objectives.
The General Manager of BICEC stated that the decision taken for this important renovation, has lasted for just over one year because of some difficulties faced. A year after uncovering fraud, the bank with capital of FCAF 60 billion realised a 2017 balance sheet surplus of FCFA 10 billion.
Alain Ripert was visibly satisfied and announced that BICEC has bounced back. They are solid and that they do not hesitate to invest. He told customers and shareholders that BICEC is the first bank preferred by civil servants and the second for SMEs in the nation.
He continued that renovation work included the parking lot and that they intend to gentrify their offices in Nkongsamba and Mbalmayo after that of Youande and Douala.
The Group CEO of BPCE, Jean Pierre Levanyer, in his two key messages first thanked the public for their continued confidence in BICEC. He stated that the public can count on BICEC because they have put those difficult moments behind them.
He stated that after deliberations at their AGM that took place earlier that day, BICEC is once more the bank that is very solid financially and respects its commitments to assure economic development in the nation.
He added that success does not only come through financial prowess but through working with a veritable human resources who must be trustworthy collaborators.
Jean Pierre Levayer stated that the innovation projects demonstrated the way forward and underscores their vision and the will to invest. He revisited the issue of having sanitized the institution. Now, he stated, is the time to continue on the good foot of economic development.
The second message, he disclosed, was the search for a new type of partnership not only in terms of finances but including technological investment in this increasingly digitized world.
This new partnership is not against Africa but will be very beneficial for BICEC and the continent at large. The partner, he continued, should be in proximity with Africa. He called it an international development strategy that will consolidate their position financially and technologically.The BPCE is the second largest bank in France.
The Board Chair Jean Baptiste Bokam, also revisited what he called the apocalyptic journey that BICEC passed through but added that today it is no more what the people thought or must have wanted. Instead BICEC is moving exceptionally well.
Jean Baptiste went on to add that the renovation is eloquent testimony that the strategies and orientations delivered by the General Manager and his collaborators worked. To the clients, he said that he was there to stay and BICEC is there to stay, despite some press reports speculating his departure, so let customers choose BICEC first among other banks.
The Governor of the Littoral Region, Ivaha Diboua who presided over the ceremony lauded BICEC’s efforts for assisting in the gentrification of the city and its long term commitment to improving the standard of living of the nation. The governor stated
that BICEC is a strong and dynamic bank as demonstrated by the figures disclosed by the General Manager. This, Ivaha Diboua said,
underlines the objectives of the Head of State to make Cameroon an emergent nation.