Banco Angolano de Investimentos has selected Finastra's Essence platform to upgrade its core banking infrastructure.
The move is intended to strengthen BAI's operational resilience and increase its capacity to respond to shifting customer expectations, product demands, and regulatory requirements in the Angolan market. The bank also aims to reduce time-to-market for new products and expand its digital banking offering to retail and corporate clients.
According to the official press release, Finastra will deploy the Essence platform using a model bank approach, incorporating features tailored to the Angolan market. Angola-focused financial software firm Innovation Makers will lead the implementation, drawing on its experience in payments and digital banking. The firm will also deliver capabilities through its Multi-Payments Processing System and Card Management solutions, and will establish a local Centre of Excellence to provide translation support, knowledge transfer, and long-term operational continuity within the Angolan financial ecosystem as well.
Finastra Essence is built on an open, microservices architecture with API connectivity, designed to enable institutions to deploy products and services incorporating technologies such as AI and machine learning. The platform is positioned as a cloud-first solution aimed at improving agility and reducing operational costs.
Strategic context
Angola's banking sector has faced ongoing pressure to modernise infrastructure and align with evolving regulatory frameworks. For institutions operating at BAI's scale, legacy core systems with accumulated customisations can constrain both flexibility and cost efficiency, a challenge that the Essence deployment is intended to address directly.
Luís Martins, Executive Director at BAI, noted that the bank requires a core platform capable of accommodating frequent regulatory changes alongside product innovation, and cited Finastra's advisory support and track record as factors in the selection decision. Furthermore, Siobhan Byron, EVP of Universal Banking at Finastra, also indicated that transforming core infrastructure would allow BAI to scale and adapt with optimised efficiency.
The agreement marks an expansion of the existing commercial relationship between BAI and Finastra rather than a new partnership. With Innovation Makers providing local implementation expertise and a dedicated support structure, the deployment model reflects a broader trend in core banking modernisation across emerging markets, combining global platform capability with on-the-ground operational knowledge.
