International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) Extends Further its Partnership with Banque Centrale Populaire, Morocco’s Bank Groups, to Support Regional Trade Flows between African and Arab Countries Under the Arab Africa Trade Bridges (AATB) Program This signing comes as an extension to the first EUR40 Million financing agreement signed in June 2017 with BCP’s Cote d’Ivoire based banking subsidiary, ABI (Banque Atlantique) CASABLANCA, Morocco, May 11, 2018/APO Group/ -- Under the umbrella of the Arab Africa Trade Bridges (AATB) Program, the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) (www.ITFC-IDB.org) extended its partnership further with the Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP) (www.GBP.ma), major financial player in Africa by signing Memorandum of Understanding on the sidelines of the Business Forum of the Agadir Agreement and the West African OIC Member Countries that took place in Casablanca, Kingdom of Morocco on 10 and 11 May 2018. This signing comes as an extension to the first EUR40 Million financing agreement signed in June 2017 with BCP’s Cote d’Ivoire based banking subsidiary, ABI (Banque Atlantique), which has presence across ten Sub Saharan Africa countries. “This MoU has been built on a firm belief of our mutual strategy in relation to regional cooperation. Through BCP’s strong regional networks within African and Arab countries, we can extend financing targeted towards supporting regional trade flows, and this is exactly the core mandate of the Arab Africa Trade Bridges (AATB) Program”, commented Eng. Hani Salem Sonbol, CEO ITFC. Under the said MoU, collaboration will take place  by exploring the opportunities proposed by the AATB program to develop specific interventions and dedicated trade finance and trade development components, in addition to supporting Trade between French and English speaking African countries. For his part, Mr. Kamal MOKDAD, BCP Co-CEO, Head of the International Global Banking, said : "Our partnership with ITFC is strengthened through this agreement that will allow the two parties to combine their expertise to boost the effectiveness of the Trade activity on the African and Arab markets. He added : "This strategic cooperation is reflected in the co-organization of B to B events in Africa, the development of Trade activities in new geographical areas and the support of participative finance in Morocco and sub-Saharan Africa ". It is worth mentioning that BCP recently acquired new banks in Mauritius Island and Madagascar in order to penetrate markets of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Distributed by APO Group on behalf of International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC).Media contact: Raghda Elsharawy Head of Corporate Communications RElsharawy@ITFC-IDB.org About the International Islamic Trade and Finance Corporation (ITFC): The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) (www.ITFC-IDB.org) is a member of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group. It was established with the purpose of advancing trade among OIC member countries, which would ultimately contribute to the overarching goal of improving socioeconomic conditions of the people across the world. Commenced operations in January 2008 (Muharram 1429H), ITFC has since consolidated all trade finance businesses that used to be handled by various windows within the IsDB Group. Earning the A1 rating by Moody’s reflects the Corporation’s efficiency in service delivery by responding swiftly to customer needs in a market-driven business environment. Since 2008, ITFC has provided more than US$40.25 billion of trade financing to OIC Member Countries, making the Corporation the leading provider of trade solutions for OIC Member Countries’ needs. With a mission of being a catalyst for trade development among OIC Member Countries and beyond, the Corporation helps entities in Member Countries gain better access to trade finance and provides them with the necessary trade-related capacity-building tools, which enables them to successfully compete in the global market. ABOUT GROUPE BANQUE CENTRALE POPULAIRE (BCP) :  BCP (www.GBP.ma) is one of the Morocco's leading banking institutions. It draws its strength from its values of solidarity, mutuality and its unique organization in Morocco. It is made up of 9 Banque Populaire Regional Banks (BPR) for cooperative purposes, the Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP), the central body of the group, a form public limited company listed on the stock market, specialized subsidiaries, foundations and banks and representations to the public. 'foreign. All this together operates in the context of a synergy. The BCP group is present in 14 African countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea Bissau, Republic of Guinea, Mauritius, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Togo) and 14 other countries worldwide (Germany, Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Spain, United Arab Emirates, United States, France, Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, Qatar and Switzerland). www.GBP.ma