1982 in Mali) by the Banque Marocaine du Commerce Extérieur (BMCE, Arabic: البنك المغربي للتجارة الخارجية, lit.

Listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange, BOA operates in numerous African countries, offering a broad range of financial services across the continent.

In 1975, it absorbed the Banco Español en Marruecos, headquartered in Tétouan,[7] and in 1989 opened BMCE International in Madrid, which in 1993 became part of a fully-fledged Spanish subsidiary.

It was formed to address the scarcity of banking services for local businesses and individuals, which was prevalent not only in Mali at that time, but across most of Francophone West Africa.

AFH / Bank of Africa Group expanded through a mix of internal growth and acquisitions, including: Meanwhile BOA established and grew operations of its own in Benin (1990), Burkina Faso (1998), Senegal (2001), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2010), Togo (2013), and Ethiopia (2014).

[10]: 2, 8  In 2004, in partnership with the local government, it also created a specialized mortgage bank in Cotonou, the Banque de l'Habitat du Benin (BHB), which however did not develop as significantly as initially envisaged.

The sub-Saharan African country in which BOA held the most assets was Burkina Faso, followed by Ivory Coast and Benin.

BOA also maintains representative offices in Ethiopia, Spain, the United Kingdom, China, Italy, Germany, UAE, Belgium, Canada, and the Netherlands.