KCB Group’s appetite for regional expansion has intensified as the lender plans to venture into Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The bank’s CEO Joshua Oigara disclosed that the lender would venture into the two markets to grow revenues and expand operations across the region.
In Ethiopia, the lender has a representative office which was opened in 2015. KCB is waiting for an operating license to start business in the fastest growing East African nation.
Currently, Ethiopian laws restrict foreign banks from operating in the country. However, under Prime Minister Ahmed Abiy, Ethiopia’s economic reforms continue to attract foreign investments.
Furthermore, the Ethiopian market is home to over 100 million people with only about 15 percent of the population having a bank account.
Earlier this year, Mr. Oigara disclosed that KCB’s presence in Ethiopia would be through a mobile lending platform, through a partnership with an Ethiopian bank, or operate a fully-fledged subsidiary by the end of 2020.
[bctt tweet=”KCB sees an opportunity in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where there is low access to banking services.”] Actually, DRC’s access to banking is lower than in other Sub Saharan Africa countries. [bctt tweet=”Official statistics indicating that about 90 percent of the population in DRC is unbanked.”]
KCB reported profits of KSh12.7 billion in the first half to June 2019 and wants to grow its balance sheet to KSh 1 trillion.
KCB already operates in Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, and South Sudan
