Cairo-based investment bank, EFG-Hermes Holding SAE has announced plans to start Kenyan operations in the second half of the year as it awaits approvals from the country’s Capital Markets Authority & other key regulatory bodies.
According to Bloomberg, the bank’s frontier markets segment Chief Executive Officer Ali Khalpey, said they will begin by offering institutional trading and research services.
“The first step is a brokerage license and as we establish our presence on the ground we will expand into investment banking,” Khalpey said. “We are talking to people about recruitment, but we will wait for the license to become active. We are looking at a 10 to 15 person office. We would love to grow that as we add new products.” He said.
“A license will probably be granted in the very near term once formally cleared by the Nairobi Securities Exchange” Capital Markets Authority CEO Paul Muthaura was quoted by Bloomberg.
EFG-Hermes seeks to tap into the growing number of institutional investors who are interested frontier markets as most of the developed markets are witnessing slow growth. He said the Kenyan office would serve as its East African Headquarters given the proximity to Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda. He also added that the country’s developed banking and telecommunications sectors and newer market-opportunities with regards to information technology presents potential IPOs and share sales.
Asked on whether they had an interest in the Nigerian market, Khalpey said in as much as West Africa is very significant, they may only start operations in Nigeria in 2018 because of the country’s challenging economic conditions.
EFG-Hermes has a total of USD 2.5 billion in assets under management and employs more than 880 staff across the seven countries in the Middle East, North Africa region where it operates. The bank specializes in a full range of investment banking products and services including securities brokerage, asset & fund management, private equity and research.
