Author: David Indeje

Equity Bank has launched a new service that allows its customers to make payments and access their accounts across five East African countries: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and South Sudan.  The service, called borderless banking, is designed to facilitate regional economic integration and support cross-border trade. Travelling for business or leisure? Whether you are in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, or even South Sudan, you can simply deposit, withdraw, or transfer money to any Equity account in the region as conveniently as you would at home. pic.twitter.com/ReJcAiGKxM — Equity Bank Kenya (@KeEquityBank) November 23, 2023 With borderless banking, Equity’s 18 million customers…

Absa Bank Kenya reported a net profit of Sh12.3 billion for the first nine months of 2023, a 14.8% increase from the same period in 2022.  The main driver of this growth was the higher interest income from loans and advances to customers, which rose by 269.7% to Sh39.1 billion. The bank’s loan book expanded by 270.1% to Sh330.9 billion, reflecting its focus on lending to the private sector. The bank also benefited from the rising interest rates in the market, which enabled it to charge higher base lending rates than in the previous year.  The bank’s return on equity improved to 25.2%, up from 23.6% in 2022. The bank’s non-interest income, which…

KCB Group, the largest financial institution in East Africa, has reported a flat net profit of Sh30.7 billion for the third quarter of 2023. “We delivered strong, sustainable growth in revenue from new business lines, the deepening of digital channels, and market-leading customer value propositions,” said the group. The group’s net profit was unchanged from the same period in 2022, mainly due to a 193.4% increase in provision for loan losses to Sh11.1 billion, reflecting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the quality of its loan portfolio. However, the group’s revenue increased by 27.0% to Sh117 billion, up from Sh92.1 billion in the same period last year, driven by…

Remittance inflows from Kenyans living and working abroad surged to $355.6 million (Sh54.2 billion) in October 2023, an increase of Sh2.3 billion from the previous month, according to data from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK). The remittance inflows in October were 6.9 per cent higher than the $332.6 million (Sh50.8 billion) recorded in October 2022. The cumulative inflows for the 12 months to October 2023 reached $4,165 million (Sh634.9 billion), a 4.2 per cent increase from the same period in 2022. “The cumulative inflows for the 12 months to October 2023 hit $4,165 million (Sh634.9 billion) compared to $3,996 million (Sh609.1 billion) in the same period in…

M-PESA has gained 1.2 million users in Ethiopia since launching its mobile money service in August 2023. The telco announced this during its half-year results for 2023–2024. M-PESA started operating in Ethiopia on August 16th, after getting a license from the National Bank of Ethiopia. M-PESA, a joint venture of Vodacom Group and Safaricom, is the most successful mobile money platform in Africa and a key revenue source for both telecoms. The launch marked a major milestone for Safaricom as it seeks to expand its service in one of Africa’s most populous countries. Safaricom also revealed that transactions worth $288…

Equity Group Holdings reported a 5.3% increase in its profit after tax (PAT) for the third quarter of 2023, reaching KES 36.2 billion. The growth was attributed to a 21.3% rise in net interest income, which reached KES 72.6 billion, as well as a 19.9% increase in customer deposits, which amounted to KES 1.2 trillion. “We are aware of the macroeconomic challenges, the significant rise of interest rates as a result of higher inflation in the earlier part of the year, and the significant depreciation of the local currencies against the US Dollar. While the risks have concentrated in Kenya,…