Banque Internationale du Bénin (B.I.B.E.) is a national bank of Benin. It is a member of the West African Bankers' Association.
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates credit. Lending activities can be performed either directly or indirectly through capital markets. Due to their importance in the financial stability of a country, banks are highly regulated in most countries. Most nations have institutionalized a system known as fractional reserve banking under which banks hold liquid assets equal to only a portion of their current liabilities. In addition to other regulations intended to ensure liquidity, banks are generally subject to minimum capital requirements based on an international set of capital standards, known as the Basel Accords.
Benin, officially the Republic of Benin and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. The majority of its population lives on the small southern coastline of the Bight of Benin, part of the Gulf of Guinea in the northernmost tropical portion of the Atlantic Ocean. The capital of Benin is Porto-Novo, but the seat of government is in Cotonou, the country's largest city and economic capital. Benin covers an area of 114,763 square kilometres (44,310 sq mi) and its population in 2016 was estimated to be approximately 10.87 million. Benin is a tropical nation, highly dependent on agriculture, with substantial employment and income arising from subsistence farming.
The West African Bankers' Association is a professional association of banking and financial services and institutions in West Africa.
It has its headquarters at Carrefour des 3 Banques in Cotonou but also has branches in Porto-Novo and Parakou. Nigeria dominates the bank, with the First Bank of Nigeria Plc. having a 13.6% share, the Union Bank of Nigeria Plc. (13%), Nigerian Economic Operatives (47.7%), Nigerian Bureau of Public Enterprises (6.7%), and then the First Interstate Merchant Bank Ltd. (11.1%) and finally the Beninese Economic Operatives with 8.2%. [1]
Cotonou is the largest city and economic centre of Benin.
Porto-Novo is the capital of Benin, and was the capital of French Dahomey. The commune covers an area of 110 square kilometres (42 sq mi) and as of 2002 had a population of 223,552 people.
Parakou is the largest city in northern Benin, with an estimated population of around 206,667 people, and capital of the Borgou Department. The mayor as of 2008 was Samou Seidou Adambi and administratively the commune of Parakou makes up one of Benin's 77 communes. Since 2015, the mayor is Souradjou Adamou Karimou.
