(Business in Cameroon) - The Bank of Central African States (BEAC) recently hired the asset management companies managed by Cameroonian natives Marc Kamgaing and the Nkontchou brothers to invest its staff’s pension fund (CRBC) in CEMAC and the WAEMU regions. The said companies are Harvest Asset Management (managed by Marc Kamgaing) and Enko Capital (Managed by the Nkontchou brothers).  

Harvest will handle investments in the CEMAC region while Enko Capital will handle those in the Waemu region. This ends the mandate of Wafa Gestion which has been playing this role since 2018.

Wafa Gestion is a subsidiary of Moroccan banking group Attijariwafa Bank but one of its shareholders is France-based asset management company Amundi Asset Management.  

Amundi Asset Management is investing part of the said pension fund in European markets. The BEAC’s collaboration with Amundi dates back to when French banking group Société Générale was the asset management’s leading shareholders. In 2015, the French banking group sold its shares in Amundi but the two institutions remained bound by a contract that makes Amundi the leading provider of savings and investment solutions for Societe Generale's retail banking and insurance networks.

CRBC is an integral part of the BEAC but has its autonomous management. Its resources are managed on a fee-for-service basis by portfolio and financial assets management companies.

The mission of Harvest Asset Management will be a little bit difficult to handle since it has been entrusted to the WAEMU region whose financial market is not very active. In this region’s public securities market, just a few fundraising operations are carried out by member states.  

Idriss Linge