BFA

The group has been successful for three decades committing itself to innovation, proximity and transparency, with a view to developing financial solutions that promote a lasting relationship with the customer and that create value for all the stakeholders with whom it deals, in particular its shareholders. BFA is known both to Angolans and the world and has a history dating back to the 1990s, when it was acquired by Grupo BPI. Everything that followed was the result of Banco de Fomento Exterior’s expansion throughout the country, and today it is inextricable from the Angolan financial system’s evolution.

Three decades of success

Represented in shades of orange, the BFA symbol transmits, at first glance, creativity, energy and success, something which is confirmed by the values which govern its conduct. The commitments it maintains, even today, are aimed at different stakeholders: employees, customers, shareholders and, of course, Angola. In addition to the serious commitment to personal and professional growth, the creation of value and service quality, the development of the national economy is a duty, in a market where the rate of bank usage started out as very low. Innovative and pioneering in many projects, BFA absorbs the culture and experience of the financial group which gave rise to it, planning a future in which it sees itself as the Angolan people’s bank of choice. It has been a long journey, involving challenges and conquests which have been necessary from the outset. An adventure that requires us to go back in time so that we can get to know it in its entirety. 

So, after becoming an autonomous entity under Angolan law in 2002, the group set about opening its headquarters in Luanda. A year later, the commercial network was segmented, with the opening of the first three business centres aimed at the corporate segment. In the following year, a social fund was created, based on education, health and social solidarity, which these days we call social responsibility. As if this were not enough, in 2005, the Banco de Fomento Angola caused a furore with the implementation of the first credit card on the Angolan market, the so-called BFA Gold Credit Card. At breakneck pace, the group inaugurated its first investment centre, expanding its commercial network, as well as its branches, corporate and investment centres and service posts. In 2007, it once again made a difference through a partnership which made it possible to launch the service of withdrawing money using credit and debit cards at BFA ATMs. It was, in fact, the first group to enable this. Between expansion to the provinces, the launch of new products and innovative updates for customers, we come to 2012 and the creation of the Oil&Gas business centre, which ensured an adequate response to the specific needs of oil operators, as demanded by the market. A year later, the bank launched itself into the digital world, with its first mobile application. 

Innovation, proximity and transparency

Meanwhile, in 2017, Unitel bought 2% of BFA, becoming a shareholder, and the forces were channelled into the field of social responsibility. In 2020, BFA became the first Angolan bank to accept American Express Cards. By then, more than two million customers had been reached and, today, its 30 years of existence reflect exceptional service, partly due to the strong relationship it has always sought to maintain with the community, for years on end. The support and promotion of social initiatives make BFA a benchmark bank, shaped by its motherland: Angola. 
It will continue steadfastly, with the certainty that many more decades are eagerly awaiting it. Until then, let us raise a toast to what is national, let us raise a toast to BFA, with the wish that it never loses sight of the preservation of the country and the people who live there. Salut!