NCBA Group is negotiating with a Ghanaian lender with the aim of agreeing on a partnership to expand in the West African market, according to Chief Executive Officer John Gachora.
“We’re actually looking into having something this year…..We are working with a local bank, and hopefully we should be launching something there soon.” John Gachora CEO NCBA Group told Bloomberg in an interview.
The bank already has operations in Ivory Coast, where it provides mobile micro-loan and savings services in partnership with a unit of MTN Group. NCBA has subsidiaries in Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda.
Gachora also added that they are also weighing entry into Nigeria but is wary of rivals and regulatory challenges.
” Africa’s most populous nation has been a fintech Savannah for quite some time, so whereas we have talked to a lot of partners there, we think it is a very competitive market and we will need to have deep pockets before we go into Nigeria.” John Gachora
Additionally, the lender also said it was looking for opportunities in the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as Ethiopia once it fully opens up its financial services to foreign investors.
NCBA Group more than doubled its net earnings for the financial year ended 31st December 2021 to KSh 10.2 Billion from KSh 4.6 Billion posted over a similar period in 2020, an increase of 121.7%.
The lender’s digital loan disbursements went up to KSh 584 Billion in 2021 from KSh 434 Billion in 2020, while the lender’s Total Operating Income increased to KSh 49 Billion in 2021 from KSh 46 Billion in 2020. Total Operating Expenses declined to KSh 33.4 Billion in 2021 from KSh 40 Billion in 2020.
NCBA declared the the payment of a final dividend for the year of KSh 2.25 per share, which, together with the interim dividend of KSh 0.75 per share paid on 12th October 2021, brings the total dividend for the year 2021 to KShs 3.00 per share.
