The Moroccan Capital Market Authority (AMMC) has granted approval for Bank of Africa’s latest bond issuance prospectus, marking a significant development in the region’s financial landscape. The approval, formalised on 12 December 2025 under reference VI/EM/044/2025, pertains to the issuance of subordinated perpetual bonds featuring both loss absorption and coupon payment cancellation mechanisms.
The prospectus, now available to the public, encompasses several key documents: the reference document for the 2024 financial year (registered under EN/EM/006/2025), its subsequent update dated 12 December 2025 (EN/EM/037/2025), and the offering document detailing the structure and modalities of the issuance. The full text is accessible on Bank of Africa’s investor relations portal and the AMMC website.
The bond issue, capped at 1 billion Moroccan dirhams (MAD), is divided into two unlisted tranches. Tranche A offers a fixed rate revisable every five years, initially determined from the five-year Treasury bill yield curve as published by Bank Al Maghrib on 15 December 2025, with an added risk premium between 220 and 230 basis points. Tranche B, revisable annually, will use the one-year Treasury bill yield curve as a benchmark, with a slightly narrower risk premium of 210 to 220 basis points. Allocation will occur through a French auction method, prioritising Tranche A before Tranche B, with the subscription period set from 19 to 23 December 2025.
The perpetual nature of the bonds reinforces Bank of Africa’s strategy to strengthen its regulatory capital base while ensuring long-term funding stability. The inclusion of loss absorption and coupon payment cancellation clauses aligns the instrument with global Basel III regulatory frameworks, ensuring that the bank’s capital instruments can support financial resilience in stress conditions.
This issuance follows a year of solid financial performance for Bank of Africa, which reported a 26 per cent rise in first-quarter profits and continued earnings growth across subsequent quarters. The institution has maintained a strong position within Morocco’s financial sector and across its pan-African footprint, underscoring its role as a key regional financial intermediary.
From a wider continental perspective, the AMMC’s approval highlights the growing maturity of African capital markets and their alignment with international best practices in financial governance. The move also underscores Morocco’s commitment to fostering innovation within its banking system, while simultaneously contributing to the diversification and deepening of African debt markets.
The availability of perpetual subordinated instruments in African markets is still relatively limited compared to mature financial systems. However, this issuance may signal a shift towards more complex capital instruments tailored to African regulatory and economic realities. It reflects a steady evolution in market sophistication and financial engineering, moving beyond external dependency narratives towards endogenous financial capacity building.
By reinforcing confidence in regulatory oversight and the depth of Morocco’s financial sector, this development contributes to reshaping how African financial institutions are perceived—no longer as peripheral actors within global finance, but as agents shaping the continent’s economic architecture.
The AMMC’s decision further demonstrates an institutional maturity that balances investor protection with market innovation, a vital equilibrium for sustained financial credibility.
The prospectus is freely available upon request at Bank of Africa’s headquarters, at BMCE Capital Conseil, or via the official AMMC website. Interested parties can access all official documents for review and subscription purposes during the designated offering period.
