In the run-up to the first Summit of Heads of State or Government marking the creation of the “Union for the Mediterranean” on 13 July 2008 in Paris, nine private financial institutions from the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean set up in Paris this morning a joint task force, supported by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Agence Française de Développement (AFD) as observers. The aim of this task force is to facilitate and reduce the cost of money transfers from Mediterranean migrants living in the European Union to their countries of origin, as well as to make it easier to channel these transfers through banks with a view to increasing productive investment and promoting the growth of SMEs and the financing of infrastructure projects in southern Mediterranean countries. Back in 2005, the EIB had conducted an initial study on this phenomenon of migrants’ remittances from Europe to the Mediterranean (http://www.eib.org/attachments/country/femip_migrants_en.pdf).

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed* on 7 July by an initial group of financial institutions: Al Amana (Morocco); Attijariwafa Bank (Morocco); Bank of Alexandria (Egypt) (1); Banque Internationale Arabe de Tunisie (BIAT – Tunisia); Banque Tuniso-Koweitienne (BTK – Tunisia) (2); the Spanish Confederation of Savings Banks (CECA – Spain); Crédit Immobilier et Hôtelier (CIH – Morocco) (3); Groupe Caisse d’Epargne (GCE – France); and Intesa Sanpaolo (Italy). This first group of signatories may be joined by other institutions that are keen to take part in the development of such a project.

Every year, more than EUR 10bn is transferred by migrants in Europe to southern Mediterranean countries and this figure is growing at an annual rate of almost 15%. The bulk of these remittances, however, are made outside traditional banking channels (via money transfer companies, post offices, informal channels) and are subject to relatively high transfer fees. Both savers and the economic systems of the beneficiary countries suffer as a result of this situation. Furthermore, no single banking institution currently possesses adequately developed networks on both sides of the Mediterranean to organise these exchanges on a large scale.

In view of these factors, the signatory banks have decided to examine how they can work together to:

  • develop a range of banking and financial products to meet the needs of migrants living in Europe and to facilitate account-to-account bank transfers between the customers of the banks represented on the task force;
  • promote savings with a view to reallocating them for productive purposes to medium and long-term investments (including infrastructure projects in particular) in the southern Mediterranean countries.

The signatory banks are thus affirming their desire to be active stakeholders in the “Union for the Mediterranean” and to making it a tangible reality for migrants in their daily lives, convinced that “without a strengthening of the links between the economies of the Mediterranean countries, no renewal of political dialogue – in itself conducive to the development of business – and, beyond that, a better mutual understanding among peoples, will be possible.”

*Al Amana, represented by its Chairman, Ahmed Ghazali; Attijariwafa bank, represented by its Chairman, Mohamed El Kettani; Bank of Alexandria, represented by its Chairman, Mahmoud Abdel Latif; BIAT, represented by its Chief Executive Officer, Slaheddine Ladjimi; BTK, represented by its Chief Executive Officer, Abdelghaffar Ezzeddine; CECA, represented by its Chief Executive Officer, Jose Antonio Olavarrieta; CIH, represented by its Chairman, Khalid Alioua; Groupe Caisse d’Epargne, represented by the Chairman of the Management Board of Caisse Nationale des Caisses d’Epargne, Charles Milhaud; Intesa Sanpaolo, represented by its Chairman, Enrico Salza.

About FEMIP, the EIB subsidiary and partner for the Mediterranean

FEMIP's remit is to promote the development of nine countries: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the Palestinian territories, Syria and Tunisia. Its two priorities are support for the private sector, the engine for sustainable growth, and the creation of an investment-friendly environment by means of efficient infrastructure and up-to-date banking systems. FEMIP is the main financial partner of the Mediterranean region, with more than EUR 7bn invested since 2002. It also encourages dialogue between the two shores of the Mediterranean, at the institutional level but also with representatives of the private sector and civil society.

About Al Amana

Al Amana is a Moroccan banking institution specialising in microfinance. It was created in 1997, and 500 000 people previously excluded from financing systems now benefit from its loans.  This number is evenly divided between men and women, and between people living in rural districts and in urban areas. Besides housing loans, Al Amana’s business covers commerce, agriculture, crafts and services. Four-fifths of the loans granted by Al Amana are arranged within the framework of mutual guarantee groups and the remainder on an individual basis. The average size of the loans granted is around EUR 700; the size of the average loan outstanding is EUR 400, for an aggregate portfolio of EUR 20m. The repayment record is excellent, and Al Amana is currently in the process of developing new services, which will include cash transfers, deposits, online and telephone banking services, and the intermediation of insurance products.

About Attijariwafa bank

The largest banking and financial group in the Maghreb, and the eighth-largest on the African continent, Attijariwafa bank boasts a robust financial structure, a fund of wide-ranging know-how and modern appraisal tools that make it one of the key players in Morocco's economic development today. Attijariwafa bank has set itself a twofold objective: to perform in line with the best international standards and to position itself so as to expand its influence in the Euro-Mediterranean area and embrace international competition. The bank runs more than 620 branches in Morocco and more than 150 branches and outlets in other countries. It has a total of almost 8 200 employees.

About BIAT

Banque Internationale Arabe de Tunisie (BIAT) is an all-purpose bank providing services to private individuals, professionals and corporate customers. It is one of the largest financial institutions in North Africa and the leading private bank in Tunisia. BIAT was the first Tunisian commercial banking institution to specifically target non-residents, for whom it offers a full range of customised services.

In developing its international business and providing in-house support for its customers, BIAT opened a representative office in Libya in September 2007. This is the bank's second such office, after the one opened in Paris in October 1990. The bank has also taken the necessary steps to establish itself in Algeria.

About the Spanish Confederation of Savings Banks

The Spanish Confederation of Savings Banks (CECA) was established in 1928, on the initiative of the Federation of Basque and Navarra Savings Banks, to enable Spanish savings banks to join forces and to represent them in different forums. At present, CECA consists of 45 savings banks and is itself regarded as a financial institution. CECA supports the savings banks as an umbrella association and as a supplier of specialised services. As an association, CECA represents the savings banks in dealings with the public authorities and in the international arena, conducts studies on all issues affecting savings banks, collaborates with the financial authorities and coordinates various areas of communications and marketing. As a services supplier, CECA offers the savings banks a wide range of financial and technological services.

About Crédit Immobilier et Hôtelier (CIH)

A Moroccan bank traditionally specialising in lending to customers in the property and hotel industries (one of the public authorities' key partners for the financing of housing and the bank for property developers in Morocco), CIH aims, with its shareholders Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion du Maroc and Groupe Caisse d'Epargne  (France), to carve out a role for itself as a top-flight general bank for private customers. CIH has a network of nearly 130 branches, over 1 400 staff and more than 300 000 customers.

About Groupe Caisse d’Epargne and its subsidiary Banque Tuniso-Koweitienne (BTK)

One of the largest retail banks in France, Groupe Caisse d'Epargne is a leading full-service financial institution. It launched its international development, particularly in the Maghreb, via Océor, its commercial banking arm for international and overseas business. Already a shareholder of CIH (Morocco), the Group recently acquired a 60% stake in BTK, which has been licensed as a full-service bank in Tunisia and owns several subsidiaries specialising in providing corporate and infrastructure financing solutions in particular.

Founded in 1981, BTK was licensed as a universal, full-service bank in 2004. A 60% subsidiary of Groupe Caisse d'Epargne (France) since this year, BTK offers a range of products and services designed to meet the needs of corporate, professional and individual customers. With subsidiaries specialising in leasing, venture capital, consultancy and financial intermediation, BTK has an ambitious development plan in terms of market share, the opening of new branches and recruitment for the period 2008-2012.

About Intesa Sanpaolo, and its subsidiary Bank of Alexandria

The Intesa Sanpaolo Group, one of the top banking groups in Europe, is Italy’s leading financial institution for private and corporate customers. The Group has developed its business in Central and Eastern Europe, where it ranks as one of the key players in several countries, while strengthening its presence in new parts of the world such as the Mediterranean region, where it controls Bank of Alexandria, Egypt's sixth-largest bank. The Group’s activities are organised in core business areas: commercial banking (individuals, professionals, SMEs and associations); corporate and investment banking; international subsidiaries (retail and commercial banks); Banca Infrastrutture Innovazione e Sviluppo (public sector financing); Eurizon Capital (one of Italy’s top asset management companies); and Banca Fideuram (Italy’s leading private bank).

Established in 1957, Bank of Alexandria was privatised in October 2006 through the sale of 80% of its shares to the Italian group Intesa Sanpaolo, which restructured and modernised the bank's organisation. Its strategy focuses particularly on SMEs, leveraging the expertise that its parent company has acquired in that area, and retail banking. Bank of Alexandria is also active in the corporate banking field and offers its services to large Egyptian companies and international corporations operating in Egypt. In addition, it provides micro-finance to small businesses for which access to the banking system may be difficult. Bank of Alexandria has 185 branches serving 1.3 million customers.

About Agence Française de Développement (AFD)

A public institution, Agence Française de Développement (AFD) has been actively engaged, for more than 60 years, in the fight against poverty and in promoting the development of the countries of the South as part of French cooperation policy. Operating in more than 70 different countries and in the French overseas countries and territories, AFD finances and supports projects designed to improve people’s living conditions, boost economic growth and protect the natural environment. Sub-Saharan Africa is a priority for AFD, which devotes more than 70% of its grants to this part of the world. In 2007, AFD and Proparco, its subsidiary specialising in financing and promoting the private sector, allocated EUR 3.5bn to funding initiatives in the countries of the South and in French overseas countries and territories. The schemes in question concerned, in particular, providing schooling for 5.8 million children and supplying drinking water to
4 million people. Energy efficiency projects carried out in the same year will make it possible to reduce CO2 emissions by 2.7 million tonnes a year.

 (1) A subsidiary of Intesa Sanpaolo. 
(2) A subsidiary of Groupe Caisse d’Epargne.
(3) A subsidiary of Groupe Caisse d’Epargne and Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion (Morocco).