Polish company Cloud Services supports financial services’ digitalization in Africa

The marketplace is part of financial services’ dynamic development trend on the African continent that is strongly based on electronic banking and mobile services.
 
Cloud Services and Bank of Africa are creating a marketplace embedding credit services fully integrated with the bank's platform. It will enable customers to select a specific product (e.g. from the household appliances and consumer electronics section), pay for the purchase using a consumer credit, and then collect the product from the store.
 
Cloud Services is responsible for the implementation and maintenance of the shopping and financial systems. Tools and procedures were prepared to ensure the functionality and security of the newly created platform, including the integration of the service with the banking system and SMS/email dispatch systems, document workflow, and administrative mechanisms such as uploading pre-scoring files (credit amounts available for individual customers), uploading products, managing stock levels at stores, managing the process, messages, and content.
 
The residents of Madagascar will be the first ones to buy on the platform. Then, the marketplace will expand into the other 17 countries where Bank of Africa has branches in.

African countries have been experiencing a very dynamic development of the banking sector for several years. What is more, the market is less interested in traditional banking but electronic and mobile services are well-accepted here. For a significant part of the population, smartphones are the basic tool used for managing financial services. We hope that our experience in introducing modern solutions in the banking sector will allow us to create an innovative and functional product that will be successful in all the countries where we plan to implement it - says Katarzyna Guerrero International Business Development Manager from Cloud Services.

Bank of Africa Group is a multinational pan-African banking conglomerate carrying out operations in 18 countries on the continent. Its position as a market leader is strengthened by the development of digital services. Bank of Africa Group has been working with Cloud Services since 2020 and the currently implemented marketplace is the cooperation's first result. The Foreign Trade Office of the Polish Investment and Trade Agency in Casablanca supported the company in the field of translations during a conference with BOA and provided support before the visit to Casablanca by advising on the market characteristics and business culture.
 
Cloud Services launches modern IT solutions onto the market in order to increase the sales processes’ reach and efficiency.

About BANK OF AFRICA Group

BANK OF AFRICA Group is presently established in 18 countries, 8 of which are in West Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Togo and Senegal), 8 in East Africa and the Indian Ocean region (Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda) as well as in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in France. BANK OF AFRICA Group has its majority shareholding held by BMCE Bank the third bank in Morocco. It provides solid strategic and operational support to BANK OF AFRICA Group, as well as direct access to international markets thanks to its presence in Europe, Asia and North America. Established over 35 years ago, BOA Group presently has 6,000 employees and a consolidated balance sheet of €8.7 billion and consolidated net profit of €102.7 million as at December 31st, 2020, with €65.7 million Group profit.
 
About the Polish Investment and Trade Agency

The Polish Investment and Trade Agency (PAIH) is an advisory institution operating in cooperation with the Polish Development Fund Group (PFR) under the leadership of the Ministry of Development and Technology. PAIH is the first point of contact for exporters and investors. It operates both in Poland and through its network of offices around the world. It strengthens the recognition of Polish brands on international markets, promotes domestic products and services as well as technological solutions made in Poland. The agency helps entrepreneurs choose their optimal expansion path abroad. It also supports the inflow of direct foreign investments to Poland and the implementation of Polish investments in the country. PAIH cooperates with the public sector and regional partners, offering, among other things: training, audit and promotion of investment properties, cooperation in the organization of business missions and communication support in the implementation of joint projects.