According to Silk Invest, much of the reason that “institutional investors started coming back [late last week] into the [Casablanca All Share Index] after a few weeks spent on the sidelines” was due to the announcement recently made by Central Bank governor Abdellatif Jouahri, who reiterated that the country’s banking sector hasd not been affected by the financial crisis given the sector’s limited exposure to foreign markets, and moreover that the banking system’s “resilience” is a “result of an ongoing reforms process.”  Moroccan credit growth increased 23% in 2008, and 17% this year to May.

Four banks lead the fray in Morocco: domestic players Attijariwafa Bank and BMCE (Banque Marocaine du Commerce Exterieur) Bank, as well as BMCI and Crédit du Maroc (subsidiaries of France’s BNP Group and Crédit Agricole, respectively).  Only the first two, however, are discussed as having continent-wide

Banque Attijari de Tunisie, or the Attijari Bank, the Tunisian branch of Morocco’s Attijariwafa Bank (NYSE:ATW)–Morocco’s leading banking and financial services group and the seventh-largest bank in Africa in terms of total assets–surpassed the Banque Internationale Arabe de Tunisie in 2008 to become the country’s second most profitable bank behind Bank of Tunisia. Among other impressive figures, Attijari saw growth in interest margin (+30.6%), the margin on commissions (+11.9%) and income on its securities portfolio (+20.4%). Additionally, the institution’s turnover reached 220.30 million dinars, a 21.7% increase, while gross operating income was up 44.5% to 60 million dinars. Deposits, meanwhile, increased by 24.1% to a rate greater than loans disbursed (1.96 billion dinars, 15.2%). And the total balance sheet of the bank increased by 19.9% to 2.83 billion dinars. Moncef Chaffar, Chairman of the