The bank’s chief executive officer, Munir Ahmed. He said last Friday
that the additional capital of Sh10 billion the bank will seek through
the rights issue will be used to open operations in Tanzania, South
Sudan, Uganda and Somalia. FILE
Daily Nation
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
The National Bank of Kenya will begin expanding to the region
next year following rebranding last week and a proposed rights issue to
be carried out in the first quarter 2014.
The bank’s chief executive officer, Munir Ahmed,
said last Friday that the additional capital of Sh10 billion the bank
will seek through the rights issue will be used to open operations in
Tanzania, South Sudan, Uganda and Somalia.
“We have already commenced preliminary surveys of
the regional market,, but we see it kicking off in the next 12 months,”
said Ahmed.
Analysts have termed the bank’s expansion plans,
especially in Somalia, as strategic and not ambitious given the
country’s return to stability and any key business and trade
opportunities that are set to open up.
Also, given the current macro-economic stability
and rising investor confidence in the country, the plan to raise money
through a rights issue will be well received by the market, with the
prospects of attracting strategic investors like the World Bank’s
investment arm, the International Finance Corporation.
“The bank has a forward looking management and we
anticipate them to propel the bank to high growth levels,” Ashanti
Research analyst Kamanda Morara said on the phone.
“The bank’s deposits have also grown so fast and
its plan to go into Islamic banking position it very well to take
advantage of emerging growth opportunities in the counties and the
regional countries.”
The bank has unveiled a new logo and adopted
yellow colours away from the traditional green in what the management
says signals the start of a new way of doing its business. The bank has
previously heavily relied on the government for business and retail
investors, but is now warming up to corporate investors and small and
medium enterprises in a turnaround strategy.
It aims to transform itself into one of the
top-tier banks in the country in the next five years with its turnover
rising to Sh31 billion by 2017 from Sh8 billion in 2012.
“Through this transformation strategy, we want to
regain NBK’s glory and propel it back to the Top tier banks by growing
our balance sheet, expanding our market footprint, managing risks and
streamlining costs,” Mr Ahmed said.