The Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) has not given up on expanding its market footprint in Tanzania after the failed buyout of BancABC Tanzania from London-based Atlas Mara Limited.
This was announced by KCB CEO Joshua Oigara who said that efforts to identify a new acquisition in Tanzania could kick off in June 2022.
“We are always looking for opportunities. So in Tanzania definitely. We had a final conversation with BancABC in December. Our focus largely today is on other countries. Tanzania is something we will come back to perhaps in the second half of this year,” said Oigara.
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KCB has been competing with the Equity Bank in expansion to the East African region, with the former’s notable acquisition in the region being the acquisition of a 62.06 percent stake in Rwanda’s Banque Populaire du Rwanda Plc (BPR) in August from Atlas Mara. KCB is also eying the remaining stake, which will make it the second-largest lender in Rwanda.
“We had offered all the minority shareholders to purchase their shares and that conversation is going on at the moment. By the time we come to June, those willing to sell their shares will be able to and those willing to remain will remain,” said Oigara.
KCB Bank Kenya has a market share of 14 percent in the Kenyan banking industry. It is the largest financial institution in the country, considering net assets, customer deposits, capital and reserves, number of deposit accounts, and number of loan accounts. Equity Bank and NCBA Bank follow, each with a market share of 11.8 percent and 9.7 percent, respectively.
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