Kenya’s Equatorial Commercial Bank (ECB) is set to receive an additional Ksh 1 billion capital injection from its Majority shareholders, Mwalimu Sacco & NSE Listed investment firm Sameer Group to help the lender boost its loan book.
Mwalimu Sacco will pump in Kshs 750 Million while Sameer Investment Group Ksh 250 Million to bring the total injection to over Ksh 2 billion in the Tier 3 bank which aims to grow to Tier 2 in the next four years as it targets the retail and the SMEs Market.
Commenting on this latest capital injection, ECB Managing Director, Tim Gitonga said the bank is now planning to leverage on its added strength to launch new products and enter into new segments of the markets in pursuit of profitable growth.
“This is a major development for us at ECB. This infusion of capital by our shareholders will not only further improve our capital base and give us a sound and solid platform on which to grow our loan book and expand our service portfolio beyond the current offering,” said Gitonga.
Mwalimu National Sacco CEO, Robert Shibutse, said the decision to invest in ECB was informed by its growing membership and their persistent push for growth that is only realizable through diversified investments. Mwalimu Sacco currently owns 75 per cent of the lender through an extra 24 percent stake which was acquired in 2015 from Naushad Meralli.
“Mwalimu National Sacco has been Keen to ride on its basic banking infrastructure that already consists of 13 front office operations and strong membership in all parts of the country. Our desire to transition from FOSA to a full time commercial Bank will have minimum financial implications and we will be able to reap from economies of scale as a result of leveraging on ECB’ established banking infrastructure,” said Shibutse.
Mwalimu National Sacco currently has an asset base of Shs 33 billion and with reserves in excess of 4.3 billion which puts it in a favorable position to compete with other mainstream lenders. On the other hand, ECB has over 9 branches which are spread across Kenya’s Main towns as it seeks to spread all over Kenya.
