Equity Bank funds struggling units as Uganda, DRC shine
President Uhuru Kenyatta (second left) unveils a plaque at BCDC’s Equity Centre in DRC alongside (left to right) Equity Group CEO James Mwangi, Central Bank of Congo Governor Deogratias Mutombo, Equity BCDC Managing Director Celestin Mukeba, and non-executive chairmen Prof Isaac Macharia and Nestor Ankiba. FILE PHOTO | COURTESY
East Africa’s largest lender by assets Equity Group Holdings (EGH) Ltd is fighting to keep its underperforming subsidiaries in Tanzania, South Sudan and Rwanda afloat through additional funding to strengthen its ‘vertical’ growth plan, mooted after abandoning further cross-border acquisitions last year.
The bank, which is listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, was targeting to hit a Ksh1 trillion ($9 billion) in asset base and 100 million customers by 2024 through a pan-African expansion programme that failed last year, after the Ksh1.18 trillion ($10.63 billion) lender failed to acquire four banks in Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia and Mozambique, which it considered key to its ambitious plan.
