Societe Generale announced on 15 July 2025 that it has agreed to sell its Cameroonian subsidiary, SG Cameroun, to the State of Cameroon. Under the terms of the agreement, the state will acquire more than 58% of the bank, lifting total government ownership to 83.7%. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The deal is expected to close by the end of 2025, subject to the required regulatory approvals.
The transaction is one of several disposals through which the French banking group has been reducing its African retail banking footprint in recent years, redirecting capital and management attention towards markets where it sees stronger long-term returns or a more favourable competitive position. Cameroon's banking sector is relatively small by regional standards, and the state's existing stake in SG Cameroun meant a negotiated exit to the government was a logical path.
CAPITAL IMPACT FOR SOCIETE GENERALE
Societe Generale said the transaction would have an approximately six basis point positive impact on its Common Equity Tier 1 ratio, a modest but meaningful contribution to the group's capital position. CET1 improvement is a recurring feature cited in bank disposals of this type, since the released risk-weighted assets flow back onto the group's capital ratios. For a large universal bank managing its capital carefully in an environment of elevated regulatory requirements, even incremental improvements matter in aggregate when combined with other portfolio moves.
The French bank has been navigating a period of strategic repositioning. African retail banking, once a pillar of its emerging-market growth story, has become harder to justify at scale as competition from pan-African lenders, mobile money operators, and state-backed institutions has intensified. In markets where Societe Generale holds minority or subscale positions, the case for deploying additional capital is weaker than in markets where the group has a clear franchise advantage.
For the State of Cameroon, raising its stake to 83.7% gives the government effective control over one of the country's established commercial banks. State-controlled banks in francophone Africa have historically played a role in directing credit to priority sectors and infrastructure projects, though commercial governance standards in state-owned institutions vary widely across the region.
BROADER CONTEXT OF SG AFRICA STRATEGY
Societe Generale has been active on African disposals. It previously agreed to sell subsidiaries in a number of other African countries as part of a broader review of where it wants to maintain a direct retail banking presence on the continent. The Cameroon announcement is consistent with that pattern, though each transaction has its own financial and regulatory characteristics.
The expected close date of end-2025 leaves sufficient time for Cameroonian banking regulators and any relevant competition authorities to review and approve the transfer of majority ownership. Given that the state was already a significant shareholder, the process may be straightforward in regulatory terms, though the mechanics of settling the transaction and transitioning operational oversight will require careful management.
Societe Generale communicated the agreement through its standard investor relations channels. The bank did not provide detail on the valuation methodology applied to the transaction, which is customary in disposals of this nature where both parties prefer not to set public benchmarks for the residual portfolio.