Central Bank Clears JPMorgan to Set Up Office in Nairobi
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has authorized JPMorgan Chase Bank, the largest bank in the US, to establish a regional representative office in Nairobi, Kenya, just days before CEO [...]
MSME Expo by Kenyan Banks Opens in Nairobi This Week
The 2024 Inua Biashara MSME Exhibition, hosted by the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA), is a must event for anyone passionate about the growth and success of Micro, Small, and Medium-sized [...]
High Interest Rates Cripple Private Sector Credit Demand
Credit from commercial banks to the private sector have decreased to record lows in August to stand at 1.3% from 3.7% in July. Commercial banks in turn resorted to government [...]Central Bank Lowers Interest Rate to 12%
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has cut the benchmark lending rate by 0.75% to 12.00%, as expected, to support economic activity. “The MPC also noted the sharp deceleration in [...]Ecobank Sierra Leone and British Govt's Investment Firm Sign $25mn Deal to Boost Private Sector
The British International Investment (BII), the UK's development finance institution has signed a $25mn risk sharing deal with Ecobank's unit in Sierra Leone. This further strengthens our intent to be [...]Tanzania's Central Bank Tightens Regulations on Digital Lenders
The Bank of Tanzania (BoT) has published regulations to protect borrowers from abusive digital lending practices of tier-2 microfinance institutions, as well as improving transparency in the sector. A microfinance [...]Moody's Upgrades Africa Finance Corporation's Credit Rating
Moody's Investor's Service has upgraded infrastructure solutions provider Africa Finance Corporation's (AFC) credit rating from Negative to Stable. Notwithstanding increased country risk in several of AFC’s countries of operation over [...]HSBC to Exit South Africa in Deals with Absa, FirstRand
Multinational British lender HSBC Holdings has agreed to transfer its South African business to FirstRand and Absa in separate deals as it continues to pivot towards Asia. “Following a strategic [...]National Bank of Malawi Secures US$100million from Afreximbank
The National Bank of Malawi (NBM PLC), the country's largest bank by assets, has secured US$100million from the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to support trade finance. The Afreximbank credit line [...]Safaricom Secures Another KShs. 15bn Loan from 4 Banks for ESG
A year after it received the first tranche of a sustainability loan, Safaricom PLC has secured the second tranche of KShs. 15bn from KCB, ABSA, Standard Chartered, and Stanbic to [...]Kenyan Banks to Report Foreign Customers' Account Data to Combat Tax Evasion
Financial institutions, such as banks and fintechs. are gearing up to comply with a set of regulations called the Common Reporting Standards (CRS), which were published by the Attorney General [...]Why Banks are Expanding Branch Networks in the Digital Age- Stanbic Kenya CFO
Banks in Kenya have been expanding branch networks across the country and region despite being in the age of digitization where most transactions happen online. On the sidelines of Stanbic [...]
