Only three Nigerian banks have any presence in Francophone West and Central Africa, despite Nigeria’s borders with these countries. UBA which is the most widely spread of any Nigerian bank has subsidiaries in Gabon, Chad, DR Congo, Cameroon, Guinea Conakry, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, and Senegal.
Access Bank had a subsidiary in DR Congo. Through its acquisition of Standard Chartered Cameroon, the company has also recently entered into the Cameroonian market. GT Bank has a subsidiary in Ivory Coast.
Georges Foaleng, a Cameroonian banking expert believes that Nigerian banks can easily capture the banking market in Francophone Africa. Foaleng who previously worked with the Bank of Central African States (BEAC) noted that with the performance-driven culture of Nigerian companies, they would have no difficulty in capturing the Francophone market.