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85-539: It is a project launched by billionaire Othman Benjelloun, chief executive officer of BMCE . In 2013, the BMCE group signed an agreement with the Anfa urbanization and development agency (AUDA) to construct the tower in the new Anfa business district. In 2014, Benjelloun presented the model of the BMCE tower: “A tower that I wanted represented by a rocket. This rocket will carry thousands of executive members and employees of

170-738: A punitive expedition , the August 1816 bombardment of Algiers . The Dey was forced to sign the Barbary treaties , because the technological advantage of U.S., British, and French forces overwhelmed the Algerians' expertise at naval warfare . Following the conquest under the July monarchy , France referred to the Algerian territories as "French possessions in North Africa". This was disputed by

255-717: A 35% shareholding interest, bringing financial capital and banking expertise. BMCE became majority owner of the BOA group in 2010, and held a 72.6 percent equity stake by 2013. In 2020, BMCE itself assumed the new name Bank of Africa - BMCE Group. Through successive transactions since 2004, Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale has become the second major shareholder of the group with 25% of the company's equity as of end-2020. The largest shareholder remains Othman Benjelloun at 27.4 percent, through his O Capital holding company and insurance company RMA Watanya. As of end-2023, Bank of Africa S.A. (Luxembourg) remained as an internal holding company of

340-729: A cost of 357 million euros. Construction is being carried out by the Moroccan company TGCC, a national leading in public works and buildings, the China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCCI) and Belgian group BESIX, which built the Burj Khalifa in Dubai . The architects of the tower are Spanish architect Rafael de la Hoz and Moroccan architect Hakim Benjelloun. Started in July 2017, its completion

425-460: A favorable peace treaty the next year. The treaty of Tafna gained conditional recognition for Abd al Qadir's regime by defining the territory under its control and salvaged his prestige among the tribes just as the shaykhs were about to desert him. To provoke new hostilities, the French deliberately broke the treaty in 1839 by occupying Constantine . Abd al Qadir took up the holy war again, destroyed

510-490: A fully-fledged Spanish subsidiary. In 1989, it took a minority stake in the public development bank of Mali , the first expansion of a Moroccan bank into sub-Saharan Africa . In 1995, it was privatized and taken over by Othman Benjelloun through his controlling ownership of insurer Royale Marocaine d'Assurance  [ fr ] . Bank of Africa was established in late 1982, in Bamako, Mali , by local businesspeople. It

595-816: A mix of Western and multilateral development institutions, and local individuals and entities. BOA also maintains representative offices in Ethiopia , Spain , the United Kingdom , China , Italy , Germany , UAE , Belgium , Canada , and the Netherlands . Nonbank subsidiaries: Additional entities of the BOA Group: French Algeria French Algeria ( French : Alger until 1839, then Algérie afterwards; unofficially Algérie française , Arabic : الجزائر المستعمرة ), also known as Colonial Algeria ,

680-572: A mixed system of "total domination and total colonization" whereby French military would wage total war against civilian populations while a colonial administration would provide rule of law and property rights to settlers within French occupied cities. Some governments and scholars have called France's conquest of Algeria a genocide . For example, Ben Kiernan , an Australian expert on Cambodian genocide wrote in Blood and Soil: A World History of Genocide and Extermination from Sparta to Darfur on

765-581: A mysterious man arrived in Kabiliya. He presented himself as Mohamed ben Abdallah (the name of the Prophet ), but is more commonly known as Sherif Boubaghla . He was probably a former lieutenant in the army of Emir Abdelkader , defeated for the last time by the French in 1847. Boubaghla refused to surrender at that battle, and retreated to Kabylia. From there he began a war against the French armies and their allies, often employing guerrilla tactics. Boubaghla

850-571: A policy of penetration." —Ben Kiernan, Blood and Soil When France recognized the Armenian genocide , Turkey accused France of having committed genocide against 15% of Algeria's population. On 1 December 1830, King Louis-Philippe named the Duc de Rovigo as head of military staff in Algeria. De Rovigo took control of Bône and initiated colonisation of the land. He was recalled in 1833 due to

935-638: A resourceful warrior. From his capital in Tlemcen , Abd al Qadir set about building a territorial Muslim state based on the communities of the interior but drawing its strength from the tribes and religious brotherhoods. By 1839, he controlled more than two-thirds of Algeria. His government maintained an army and a bureaucracy, collected taxes, supported education, undertook public works, and established agricultural and manufacturing cooperatives to stimulate economic activity. The French in Algiers viewed with concern

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1020-623: Is an international financial services group headquartered in Casablanca , Morocco . It was formed through the 2010 acquisition of Bank of Africa (est. 1982 in Mali ) by the Banque Marocaine du Commerce Extérieur ( BMCE , Arabic : البنك المغربي للتجارة الخارجية , lit.   ' Moroccan Bank of Foreign Trade ' , est. 1959), following which BMCE rebranded its commercial operations as Bank of Africa in 2020. The BMCE name survives in

1105-503: Is announced for 2023. It will measure 250 meters and will be the second tallest tower in Africa. It is designed to be visible from a distance of 50 kilometers all around. Its budget is 3.5 billion MAD. With 55 floors, it will include a luxury hotel, offices, high-end apartments and an observatory located at the top of the tower. The south facade of the tower houses photovoltaic panels. Bank of Africa Group Bank of Africa ( BOA )

1190-485: Is estimated that by 1875, approximately 825,000 indigenous Algerians were killed. Various scholars describe the French conquest as genocide . Algeria was ruled as a colony from 1830 to 1848, and then as multiple departments, an integral part of France , with the implementing of the Constitution of French Second Republic on 4 November 1848, until Algerian independence in 1962. For a period between 1860 and 1870,

1275-582: Is for their part that civilization is situated." French forces deported and banished entire Algerian tribes. The Moorish families of Tlemcen were exiled to the Orient, and others were emigrated elsewhere. The tribes that were considered too troublesome were banned, and some took refuge in Tunisia, Morocco and Syria or were deported to New Caledonia or Guyana. Also, French forces also engaged in wholesale massacres of entire tribes. All 500 men, women and children of

1360-475: The Algerian War (1954-1962), the French used deliberate illegal methods against the Algerians, including (as described by Henri Alleg , who himself had been tortured, and historians such as Raphaëlle Branche) beatings, torture by electroshock, waterboarding , burns, and rape. Prisoners were also locked up without food in small cells, buried alive , and thrown from helicopters to their death or into

1445-743: The Count of Villèle , an ultra-royalist , President of the council and the monarch's heir, opposed any military action. The Bourbon Restoration government finally decided to blockade Algiers for three years. Meanwhile, the Berber pirates were able to exploit the geography of the coast with ease. Before the failure of the blockade, the Restoration decided on 31 January 1830 to engage a military expedition against Algiers. Admiral Duperré commanded an armada of 600 ships that originated from Toulon , leading it to Algiers. Using Napoleon 's 1808 contingency plan for

1530-814: The French Development Agency ), the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO), and Paris-based Natexis (later Natixis ). AFH / Bank of Africa Group expanded through a mix of internal growth and acquisitions, including: Meanwhile BOA established and grew operations of its own in Benin (1990), Burkina Faso (1998), Senegal (2001), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2010), Togo (2013), and Ethiopia (2014). In 2004, in partnership with

1615-569: The French army . One by one, the amir's strongholds fell to the French, and many of his ablest commanders were killed or captured so that by 1843 the Muslim state had collapsed. Abd al Qadir took refuge in 1841 with his ally, the sultan of Morocco , Abd ar Rahman II , and launched raids into Algeria. This alliance led the French Navy to bombard and briefly occupy Essaouira ( Mogador ) under

1700-467: The Marquesas Islands or elsewhere. In one word, annihilate everything that will not crawl beneath our feet like dogs. Whatever initial misgivings Louis Philippe's government may have had about occupying Algeria, the geopolitical realities of the situation created by the 1830 intervention argued strongly for reinforcing French presence there. France had reason for concern that Britain , which

1785-462: The Mitidja Plain and envisioned the large-scale production there of cotton . As governor-general (1835–36), he used his office to make private investments in land and encouraged army officers and bureaucrats in his administration to do the same. This development created a vested interest among government officials in greater French involvement in Algeria. Commercial interests with influence in

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1870-602: The Ottoman Empire , then led by Mahmud II but enjoyed relative independence. The Barbary Coast was the stronghold of Berber pirates, who carried out raids against European and American ships. Conflicts between the Barbary States and the newly independent United States of America culminated in the First (1801–05) and Second (1815) Barbary Wars. An Anglo-Dutch force, led by Admiral Lord Exmouth , carried out

1955-513: The Prince de Joinville on August 16, 1844. A French force was destroyed at the Battle of Sidi-Brahim in 1845. However, Abd al Qadir was obliged to surrender to the commander of Oran Province, General Louis de Lamoricière , at the end of 1847. Abd al Qadir was promised safe conduct to Egypt or Palestine if his followers laid down their arms and kept the peace. He accepted these conditions, but

2040-613: The Three Glorious Days of July 1830, and his cousin Louis-Philippe , the "citizen king ," was named to preside over a constitutional monarchy . The new government, composed of liberal opponents of the Algiers expedition, was reluctant to pursue the conquest begun by the old regime, but withdrawing from Algeria proved more difficult than conquering it. Alexis de Tocqueville 's views on Algeria were instrumental in its brutal and formal colonization. He advocated for

2125-566: The byline "BMCE Group" incorporated in the BOA brand identity. As of 2024, BOA's two main shareholders were Moroccan financier Othman Benjelloun and French bank Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale , with around 27 and 25 percent respectively. BOA is listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange . As of 2024, BOA was the third-largest bank in Morocco, behind market leader Attijariwafa Bank and the cooperative BCP Group . At

2210-786: The capture of Algiers in 1516 by the Ottoman admirals, brothers Ours and Hayreddin Barbarossa , Algeria had been a base for conflict and piracy in the Mediterranean basin. In 1681, Louis XIV asked Admiral Abraham Duquesne to fight the Berber pirates . He also ordered a large-scale attack on Algiers between 1682 and 1683 on the pretext of assisting and rescuing enslaved Christians, usually Europeans taken as captives in raids. Again, Jean II d'Estrées bombarded Tripoli and Algiers from 1685 to 1688. An ambassador from Algiers visited

2295-533: The locust plagues of 1866 and 1868, as well as by a rigorous winter in 1867–68, which caused a famine followed by an epidemic of cholera . The French began their occupation of Algiers in 1830, starting with a landing in Algiers . As occupation turned into colonization, Kabylia remained the only region independent of the French government. Pressure on the region increased, and the will of her people to resist and defend Kabylia increased as well. In about 1849,

2380-403: The Algerian population. Colonel Lucien de Montagnac stated that the purpose of the pacification was to "destroy everything that will not crawl beneath our feet like dogs" The scorched earth policy, decided by Governor General Thomas Robert Bugeaud , had devastating effects on the socio-economic and food balances of the country: "we fire little gunshot, we burn all douars, all villages, all huts;

2465-677: The BMCE group to space. This Rocket will be ready for take-off from a Launch Pad, also represented in this project." Its objective was to build a rocket-shaped tower in Casablanca that will house the new headquarters of the banking group. Benjelloun claims that the rocket shape would be inspired from his experience in the United States: “This particular shape is inspired by my visit to the NASA space agency, at Cape Canaveral in Florida in

2550-800: The Court in Versailles, and a treaty was signed in 1690 that provided peace throughout the 18th century. During the Directory regime of the First French Republic (1795–99), the Bacri and the Busnach, Jewish merchants of Algiers, provided large quantities of grain for Napoleon's soldiers who participated in the Italian campaign of 1796. But Bonaparte refused to pay the bill, claiming it

2635-635: The DRC (86.6 percent), Djibouti (100 percent), France (94.8 percent), Ghana (98 percent), Kenya (89.5 percent), Ivory Coast (69.8 percent), Madagascar (61.1 percent), Mali (64.2 percent), Niger (59.1 percent), Rwanda (95 percent), Senegal (61.7 percent), Tanzania (96.2 percent), Togo (94.5 percent), and Uganda (92.2 percent), as well as minority stakes in the Banque de l'Habitat du Bénin (24.2 percent) and Banque de Crédit de Bujumbura (24.22 percent). The individual entities' other shareholders are typically

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2720-537: The El Oufia tribe were killed in one night, while all 500 to 700 members of the Ouled Rhia tribe were killed by suffocation in a cave. The Siege of Laghouat is referred by Algerians as the year of the "Khalya ," Arabic for emptiness, which is commonly known to the inhabitants of Laghouat as the year that the city was emptied of its population. It is also commonly known as the year of Hessian sacks, referring to

2805-592: The French Christian troops and to belligerent calls for jihad from the marabouts . Despite the diplomatic rupture between Morocco and the Two Sicilies in 1830, and the naval warfare engaged against the Austrian Empire as well as with Spain , then headed by Ferdinand VII , Sultan Abderrahmane lent his support to the Algerian insurgency of Abd El-Kader . The latter fought for years against

2890-400: The French and their makhzen allies at Oran in 1832. In the same year, jihad was declared and to lead it tribal elders chose Muhyi ad Din's son, twenty-five-year-old Abd al Qadir . Abd al Qadir, who was recognized as Amir al-Muminin (commander of the faithful), quickly gained the support of tribes throughout Algeria. A devout and austere marabout, he was also a cunning political leader and

2975-452: The French army has set foot. Who wants the end wants the means, whatever may say our philanthropists. I personally warn all good soldiers whom I have the honour to lead that if they happen to bring me a living Arab, they will receive a beating with the flat of the saber.... This is how, my dear friend, we must make war against Arabs: kill all men over the age of fifteen, take all their women and children, load them onto naval vessels, send them to

3060-548: The French captured Constantine under Sylvain Charles Valée the following year, on 13 October 1837. Historians generally set the indigenous population of Algeria at 3 million in 1830. Although the Algerian population decreased at some point under French rule, most certainly between 1866 and 1872, the French military was not fully responsible for the extent of this decrease, as some of these deaths could be explained by

3145-457: The French conquest of Algeria : By 1875, the French conquest was complete. The war had killed approximately 825,000 indigenous Algerians since 1830. A long shadow of genocidal hatred persisted, provoking a French author to protest in 1882 that in Algeria, "we hear it repeated every day that we must expel the native and, if necessary, destroy him." As a French statistical journal urged five years later, "the system of extermination must give way to

3230-476: The French during the Algerian War during the 1950s against Algerians include deliberate bombing and killing of unarmed civilians, rape, torture , executions through " death flights " or burial alive , thefts and pillaging. Up to 2 million Algerian civilians were also deported in internment camps. During the Pacification of Algeria (1835-1903) French forces engaged in a scorched earth policy against

3315-469: The French general Jacques Louis César Randon was caught but managed to escape later. On 26 December 1854, Boubaghla was killed; some sources claim it was due to treason of some of his allies. The resistance was left without a charismatic leader and a commander able to guide it efficiently. For this reason, during the first months of 1855, on a sanctuary built on top of the Azru Nethor peak, not far from

3400-563: The French settlements on the Mitidja Plain, and at one point advanced to the outskirts of Algiers itself. He struck where the French were weakest and retreated when they advanced against him in greater strength. The government moved from camp to camp with the amir and his army. Gradually, however, superior French resources and manpower and the defection of tribal chieftains took their toll. Reinforcements poured into Algeria after 1840 until Bugeaud had at his disposal 108,000 men, one-third of

3485-479: The French. Directing an army of 12,000 men, Abd El-Kader first organized the blockade of Oran. Algerian refugees were welcomed by the Moroccan population, while the Sultan recommended that the authorities of Tetuan assist them, by providing jobs in the administration or the military forces. The inhabitants of Tlemcen , near the Moroccan border, asked that they be placed under the Sultan's authority in order to escape

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3570-611: The Ottoman Empire, which had not given up its claim. In 1839 Marshal General Jean-de-Dieu Soult , Duke of Dalmatia, first named these territories as "Algeria". The invasion of Algeria against the Regency of Algiers (Ottoman Algeria) was initiated in the last days of the Bourbon Restoration by Charles X , as an attempt to increase his popularity amongst the French people. He particularly hoped to appeal to

3655-509: The USA, where I was invited to participate in a spaceflight simulation, in 1969, in company of the astronaut Pete Conrad, prior to the launch of the actual flight of Apollo 12 to the moon in November of the same year." Originally planned for Casablanca Finance City , the initial plan for the bank's headquarters was slated to be 135 meters high and completed in 2016. Benjelloun then decided to take

3740-457: The advantage on 19 June during the battle of Staouéli , and entered Algiers on 5 July after a three-week campaign. The dey agreed to surrender in exchange for his freedom and the offer to retain possession of his personal wealth. Five days later, he exiled himself with his family, departing on a French ship for the Italian peninsula . 2,500 janissaries also quit the Algerian territories, heading for Asia, on 11 July. The French army then recruited

3825-782: The bulk of the Société de Banque du Maghreb (SBM), the Moroccan subsidiary of the former CFAT, while Société Générale Morocco acquired about a fifth of the SBM's activity. BMCE then opened its first overseas branch in Paris in 1972, and listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange in 1974. In 1975, it absorbed the Banco Español en Marruecos , headquartered in Tétouan , and in 1989 opened BMCE International in Madrid , which in 1993 became part of

3910-590: The coast in the Gulf of Bougie, shelled Kherrata. Vigilantes lynched prisoners taken from local jails or randomly shot Muslims not wearing white arm bands (as instructed by the army) out of hand. It is certain that the great majority of the Muslim victims had not been implicated in the original outbreak. The dead bodies in Guelma were buried in mass graves, but they were later dug up and burned in Héliopolis . During

3995-406: The dey and claimed they could not pay it until France paid its debts to them. The dey had unsuccessfully negotiated with Pierre Deval , the French consul, to rectify this situation, and he suspected Deval of collaborating with the merchants against him, especially when the French government made no provisions in 1820 to pay the merchants. Deval's nephew Alexandre, the consul in Bône , further angered

4080-400: The dey by fortifying French storehouses in Bône and La Calle , contrary to the terms of prior agreements. After a contentious meeting in which Deval refused to provide satisfactory answers on 29 April 1827, the dey struck Deval with his fly whisk . Charles X used this slight against his diplomatic representative to first demand an apology from the dey, and then to initiate a blockade against

4165-405: The enemy flees across taking his flock." According to Olivier Le Cour Grandmaison , the colonization of Algeria led to the extermination of a third of the population from multiple causes (massacres, deportations, famines or epidemics) that were all interrelated. Returning from an investigation trip to Algeria, Tocqueville wrote that "we make war much more barbaric than the Arabs themselves [...] it

4250-399: The first zouaves (a title given to certain light infantry regiments) in October, followed by the spahis regiments, while France expropriated all the land properties belonging to the Turkish settlers , known as Beliks . In the western region of Oran , Sultan Abderrahmane of Morocco , the Commander of the Faithful , could not remain indifferent to the massacres committed by

4335-494: The foreign shareholders included BCI (16.7 percent), Mouton Roger Group (12.5 percent), Banco di Roma , Bank of America , Bank of West Africa (BWA), Banque Française du Commerce Extérieur , Commerzbank , and Skandinaviska Banken (2.8 percent each); private Moroccan shareholders held an additional 4.2 percent, while the Moroccan government retained 50 percent. In 1965 BWA, acquired that year by Standard Bank , transferred to BMCE its branch in Tangier . In 1971, BMCE took over

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4420-515: The government also began to recognize the prospects for profitable land speculation in expanding the French zone of occupation. They created large agricultural tracts, built factories and businesses, and hired local labor. Among others testimonies, Lieutenant-colonel Lucien de Montagnac wrote on 15 March 1843, in a letter to a friend: All populations who do not accept our conditions must be despoiled. Everything must be seized, devastated, without age or sex distinction: grass must not grow any more where

4505-623: The group, with its equity capital owned by Bank of Africa - BMCE Group (72.41 percent), FMO (9.41 percent), Proparco (3.73 percent), and other shareholders (14.45 percent). The sub-Saharan African country in which BOA held the most assets was Burkina Faso, followed by Ivory Coast and Benin. In total, international activities (outside Morocco) represented 32 percent of the group's consolidated assets at end-2023. Also at end-2023, Bank of Africa - BMCE Group retained direct control of operations in Morocco, while BOA SA had majority-owned subsidiaries in Benin (54.1 percent stake), Burkina Faso (56.5 percent),

4590-404: The invaders. Abderrahmane named his nephew Prince Moulay Ali Caliph of Tlemcen, charged with the protection of the city. In retaliation France executed two Moroccans: Mohamed Beliano and Benkirane, as spies, while their goods were seized by the military governor of Oran, Pierre François Xavier Boyer . Hardly had the news of the capture of Algiers reached Paris than Charles X was deposed during

4675-499: The invasion of Algeria, General de Bourmont then landed 27 kilometres (17 mi) west of Algiers, at Sidi Ferruch on 14 June 1830, with 34,000 soldiers. In response to the French, the Algerian dey ordered an opposition consisting of 7,000 janissaries , 19,000 troops from the beys of Constantine and Oran , and about 17,000 Kabyles . The French established a strong beachhead and pushed toward Algiers, thanks in part to superior artillery and better organization. The French troops took

4760-459: The local government, it also created a specialized mortgage bank in Cotonou , the Banque de l'Habitat du Benin (BHB), which however did not develop as significantly as initially envisaged. In 2010, BOA opened a subsidiary in France, developing from an earlier representative office opened in Paris in 2000. In 2008, Luxembourg-based AFH, the parent company of the Bank of Africa Group, rebranded itself into Bank of Africa Group S.A., and BMCE took

4845-403: The majority of the territory throughout its history. Gradually, dissatisfaction among the Muslim population, due to their lack of political and economic freedom, fueled calls for greater political autonomy , and eventually independence from France. The Sétif and Guelma massacre , in 1945, marked a point of no return in Franco-Algerian relations and led to the outbreak of the Algerian War which

4930-411: The many veterans of the Napoleonic Wars who lived in Paris. His intention was to bolster patriotic sentiment, and distract attention from ineptly handled domestic policies by "skirmishing against the dey." In the 1790s, France had contracted to purchase wheat for the French army from two merchants in Algiers, Messrs. Bacri and Boushnak, and was in arrears paying them. Bacri and Boushnak owed money to

5015-436: The marchers and the local French gendarmerie, when the latter tried to seize banners attacking colonial rule. After five days, the French colonial military and police suppressed the rebellion, and then carried out a series of reprisals against Muslim civilians. The army carried out summary executions of Muslim rural communities. Less accessible villages were bombed by French aircraft, and cruiser Duguay-Trouin , standing off

5100-461: The minister of war — who years earlier as general in Algeria had been badly defeated by Abd al Qadir — had him consigned in France in the Château d'Amboise . According to Ben Kiernan , colonization and genocidal massacres proceeded in tandem. Within the first three decades (1830–1860) of French conquest, between 500,000 and 1,000,000 Algerians, out of a total of 3 million, were killed due to war, massacres, disease and famine. Atrocities committed by

5185-402: The overtly violent nature of the repression. Wishing to avoid a conflict with Morocco, Louis-Philippe sent an extraordinary mission to the sultan, mixed with displays of military might, sending war ships to the Bay of Tangier . An ambassador was sent to Sultan Moulay Abderrahmane in February 1832, headed by the Count Charles-Edgar de Mornay and including the painter Eugène Delacroix . However

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5270-414: The port of Algiers. France demanded that the dey send an ambassador to France to resolve the incident. When the dey responded with cannon fire directed toward one of the blockading ships, the French determined that more forceful action was required. Pierre Deval and other French residents of Algiers left for France, while the Minister of War , Clermont-Tonnerre , proposed a military expedition. However,

5355-409: The project to 190 meters high. In March 2016, 10 additional floors were added to the plan and it was announced that the tower would instead be built in the city of Salé . The building, now renamed the Mohammed VI Tower, would house a mix of components for hotel use, offices, residential and retail. The project began on 9 March 2016, when King Mohammed VI laid the first stone of the new skyscraper, at

5440-718: The sea with concrete on their feet. Claude Bourdet had denounced these acts on 6 December 1951, in the magazine L'Observateur , rhetorically asking, "Is there a Gestapo in Algeria? ." D. Huf, in his seminal work on the subject, argued that the use of torture was one of the major factors in developing French opposition to the war. Huf argued, "Such tactics sat uncomfortably with France's revolutionary history, and brought unbearable comparisons with Nazi Germany . The French national psyche would not tolerate any parallels between their experiences of occupation and their colonial mastery of Algeria." General Paul Aussaresses admitted in 2000 that systematic torture techniques were used during

5525-402: The success of a Muslim government and the rapid growth of a viable territorial state that barred the extension of European settlement. Abd al Qadir fought running battles across Algeria with French forces, which included units of the Foreign Legion, organized in 1831 for Algerian service. Although his forces were defeated by the French under General Thomas Bugeaud in 1836, Abd al Qadir negotiated

5610-426: The sultan refused French demands that he evacuate Tlemcen . In 1834, France annexed as a colony the occupied areas of Algeria, which had an estimated Muslim population of about two million. Colonial administration in the occupied areas — the so-called régime du sabre (government of the sword) — was placed under a governor-general , a high-ranking army officer invested with civil and military jurisdiction, who

5695-477: The then-French emperor Napoleon III transformed Algeria into a client state , expanding freedoms, and limiting colonisation, a move deeply unpopular by the French colonists. As a recognized jurisdiction of France, Algeria became a destination for hundreds of thousands of European immigrants. They were first known as colons , and later as pieds-noirs , a term applied primarily to ethnic Europeans born in Algeria. The indigenous Muslim population comprised

5780-445: The time of Moroccan independence , the new country's banking system was dominated by French banks, namely the Banque Commerciale du Maroc controlled by Crédit Industriel et Commercial and the local operations of Banque Nationale pour le Commerce et l'Industrie , Crédit Lyonnais , and Société Générale as well as Algeria -centric Compagnie Algérienne and Crédit Foncier d'Algérie et de Tunisie (CFAT). The creation of BMCE in 1959

5865-416: The traditional submission as a slave to a husband. In fact, at that time Boubaghla left his first wife (Fatima Bent Sidi Aissa) and sent back to her owner a slave he had as a concubine (Halima Bent Messaoud). But on her side, Lalla Fadhma wasn't free: even if she was recognized as tamnafeqt ("woman who left her husband to get back to his family ," a Kabylia institution), the matrimonial tie with her husband

5950-414: The use of torture during the war. In June 2000, Bigeard declared that he was based in Sidi Ferruch , a torture center where Algerians were murdered. Bigeard qualified Louisette Ighilahriz 's revelations, published in the Le Monde newspaper on June 20, 2000, as "lies." An ALN activist, Louisette Ighilahriz had been tortured by General Massu. However, since General Massu's revelations, Bigeard has admitted

6035-414: The village where Fadhma was born, there was a great council among combatants and important figures of the tribes in Kabylie. They decided to grant Lalla Fadhma, assisted by her brothers, the command of combat. The French faced other opposition as well in the area. The superior of a religious brotherhood, Muhyi ad Din , who had spent time in Ottoman jails for opposing the bey's rule, launched attacks against

6120-419: The war against the French. With her inspiring speeches, she convinced many men to fight as imseblen (volunteers ready to die as martyrs) and she herself, together with other women, participated in combat by providing cooking, medicines, and comfort to the fighting forces. Traditional sources tell that a strong bond was formed between Lalla Fadhma and Boubaghla. She saw this as a wedding of peers, rather than

6205-495: The war and justified it. He also recognized the assassination of lawyer Ali Boumendjel and the head of the FLN in Algiers, Larbi Ben M'Hidi , which had been disguised as suicides. Bigeard , who called FLN activists "savages ," claimed torture was a "necessary evil ." To the contrary, General Jacques Massu denounced it, following Aussaresses's revelations and, before his death, pronounced himself in favor of an official condemnation of

6290-641: The way the captured surviving men and boys were put alive in the hessian sacks and thrown into dug-up trenches. From 8 May to June 26, 1945, the French carried out the Sétif and Guelma massacre , in which between 6,000 and 80,000 Algerian Muslims were killed. Its initial outbreak occurred during a parade of about 5,000 people of the Muslim Algerian population of Sétif to celebrate the surrender of Nazi Germany in World War II; it ended in clashes between

6375-471: Was a relentless fighter, and very eloquent in Arabic. He was very religious, and some legends tell of his thaumaturgic skills. Boubaghla went often to Soumer to talk with high-ranking members of the religious community, and Lalla Fadhma was soon attracted by his strong personality. At the same time, the relentless combatant was attracted by a woman so resolutely willing to contribute, by any means possible, to

6460-636: Was characterised by the use guerrilla warfare by National Liberation Front , and crimes against humanity by the French. The war ended in 1962, with Algeria gaining independence following the Évian Accords in March 1962 and a self-determination referendum in July 1962. During its last years as part of France, Algeria was a founding member of the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community . Since

6545-543: Was established in Luxembourg as a holding company for BOA Mali and operations to be added in other African countries. The objectives of AFH were to promote the establishment of banking subsidiaries across Africa, with local capital participation as a key component and to offer both management, technical support as well as equity participation in these new banking subsidiaries. To increase their capital base, AFH then took on new investors including Proparco (an affiliate of

6630-585: Was excessive. In 1820, Louis XVIII paid back half of the Directory's debts. The Dey , who had loaned the Bacri 250,000 francs , requested the rest of the money from France. French Algeria (19th–20th centuries) Algerian War (1954–1962) 1990s– 2000s 2010s to present The Dey of Algiers was weak politically, economically, and militarily. Algeria was then part of the Barbary States , along with today's Tunisia; these depended on

6715-461: Was formed to address the scarcity of banking services for local businesses and individuals, which was prevalent not only in Mali at that time, but across most of Francophone West Africa . This initial effort was without any external financial backing. The initial success of BOA led to the group gradual expansion and reorganization away from its Malian origins. In 1988, African Financial Holdings (AFH)

6800-601: Was led by Ahmad ibn Muhammad , bey of Constantine . He initiated a radical overhaul of the Ottoman administration in his beylik by replacing Turkish officials with local leaders, making Arabic the official language, and attempting to reform finances according to the precepts of Islam . After the French failed in several attempts to gain some of the bey 's territories through negotiation, an ill-fated invasion force, led by Bertrand Clauzel , had to retreat from Constantine in 1836 in humiliation and defeat. However,

6885-415: Was pledged to maintain the territorial integrity of the Ottoman Empire, would move to fill the vacuum left by a French withdrawal. The French devised elaborate plans for settling the hinterland left by Ottoman provincial authorities in 1830, but their efforts at state-building were unsuccessful on account of lengthy armed resistance. The most successful local opposition immediately after the fall of Algiers

6970-412: Was responsible to the minister of war. Marshal Bugeaud , who became the first governor-general, headed the conquest. Soon after the conquest of Algiers, the soldier-politician Bertrand Clauzel and others formed a company to acquire agricultural land and, despite official discouragement, to subsidize its settlement by European farmers, triggering a land rush . Clauzel recognized the farming potential of

7055-414: Was still in place, and only her husband's will could free her. However he did not agree to this, even when offered large bribes. The love between Fadhma and Bou remained platonic, but there were public expressions of this feeling between the two. Fadhma was personally present at many fights in which Boubaghla was involved, particularly the battle of Tachekkirt won by Boubaghla forces (18–19 July 1854), where

7140-423: Was the first step in a decades-long process, known locally as marocanisation , of reduction of that colonial legacy. BMCE was established in 1959 as a government-owned commercial entity and in 1962 opened its capital to foreign strategic investors, the main one being Banca Commerciale Italiana (BCI) which had been present in Morocco since 1928 and brought BMCE its network of branches in the country. By late 1962,

7225-415: Was the period of Algerian history when the country was a colony and later an integral part of France . French rule lasted until the end of the Algerian War which resulted in Algeria gaining independence on 5 July 1962. The French conquest of Algeria began in 1830 with the invasion of Algiers which toppled the Regency of Algiers , though Algeria was not fully conquered and pacified until 1903. It

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