The announcement of the creation of a Catholic bank called ICTUS Bank made by the Episcopal Conference of Benin is no longer relevant. For the time being, the Church has decided to cancel the public offering notice. This was done in a press release on Thursday 25 August.

On 14 July, the Episcopal Conference of Benin (C.E.B.) published in the daily newspaper “LA NATION” a project for the creation in Benin of a limited company with the vocation of a financial establishment with the purpose of receiving funds from clients, credit operations and other specific operations. “The Catholic Church in Benin, anxious to acquire in all integrity, a financial autonomy and to contribute to the integral development of Benin and that of its daughters and sons, plans to set up a Catholic bank called ICTUS Bank (ICB)-Société anonyme (SA), with a capital of 10 billion CFA francs,” said the statement.

This announcement provoked several reactions from the public. Thus, on Thursday 25 August, the Catholic Church reversed its decision by notifying that the terms “bank”, “banque” or “bancaire” used in the name of the planned SA as a financial institution are not appropriate.

Therefore, the CEB, “decides to cancel the Notice of Public Offering of 14 July 2022, pending to follow all legal procedures and to observe the provisions of the BCEAO until finalizing the steps towards a formal request for approval from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the BCEAO and the Banking Commission of WAMU.

As a reminder, the establishment of a Catholic bank in Benin is part of the objective of acquiring the financial autonomy of the Church in all integrity and contributing to the integral development of Benin. Dioceses, ecclesial institutions and the lay faithful therefore have the majority share. The faithful were indeed invited to buy from 15 July to 15 September 2022 at the latest their shares from 50,000 FCFA. It should be noted that the cancellation of this project is only temporary.