RABAT, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP), one of Morocco's largest lenders, announced Tuesday that it had started exclusive talks with France's cooperative lender BPCE to buy major stakes in four of its African banks.

According to a statement by BCP, the bank intends to acquire BPCE's controlling stakes in Cameroon, Madagascar, Congo and Tunisia.

The Moroccan bank aims to fully acquire Banque Commerciale Internationale (BCI) in Congo and get 71 percent of Madagascar's Banque Malgache de L'Océan Indien (BMOI).

The deal will also include 68.5 percent of stakes of Banque Internationale du Cameroun pour l'Epargne et le Credit (BICEC) in Cameroun and 60 percent of Banque Tuniso-Koweitienne (BTK) in Tunisia.

BCP noted that the four banks have 1,886 employees and 117 agencies.

Earlier this year, BCP acquired another bank in Madagascar and opened a subsidiary in Mauritius.

If the Moroccan bank got the deal, it will expand its presence in Africa to a total of 17 countries.