Société Générale Congo: Innovation in Congo Puts Societe Generale in Leadership Position

Société Générale Congo launched in April 2012 as a subsidiary of leading European financial services provider Société Générale Group. It has since become one of the main players in the country’s banking sector.

Managing director and CEO Alain Calmels has been with Société Générale Congo since 2019. He is in charge of supervising the client services division (grouped back offices) and relations with social partners, banks and regulators. He and Société Générale Congo’s team of professionals combine expertise and individual dedication to offer tailor-made, relevant and optimised solutions — adapted to individual client needs.

The Societe Generale network includes five branches in the main cities of Brazzaville and Pointe Noire. “We provide a comprehensive range of universal products and insurance, remote, and daily banking services for corporate, professional, and individual clients,” says Calmels.

Société Générale Congo addresses all local and international economic actors and sectors of the Congolese market, with an impressive product portfolio: current and classic savings accounts, term deposit, personal, vehicle, and back-to-school loans, as well as personal-loan real estate and overdraft insurance

For professionals and companies, Société Générale Congo offers spot credit, overdraft facilities, discounting, vehicle loans, investment credit, term deposit and leasing (Sogelease).

International Operations

For importers, Société Générale Congo offers international transfer, documentary credit, documentary remittance, guarantees and SBLC. For the export side, it provides documentary credit with confirmation and documentary remittance — managed in-house by the expert team.

Transfers and management of export flows are speciality services, with advantageous conditions on transactions between XAF and foreign currency.

Prior to his appointment, CEO Calmels was deputy managing director of Societe Generale Banque de Polynesie, and previously worked in the positions of secretary-general, senior inspector, and deputy inspector.

He achieved a Master of Public Affairs degree cum laude, and is bilingual in English and French. He graduated from the Faculty of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, and was awarded the dean’s recommendation for his part in the university’s Honours Exchange Programme.