Kenyan banks struggle to grow in Tanzania
FRIDAY JULY 08 2022
A customer is served at a Kenya Commercial Bank branch. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Kenyan banks are struggling for market share in Tanzania despite a decade-plus presence in the country, underlining the challenges Kenyan businesses face in that market.
Equity Group, KCB and DTB hold a market share of less than four percent each in Tanzania, in contrast to shares of between five and 24 percent in other jurisdictions such as Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Equity, which is the biggest lender in Kenya by assets and earnings, says in its latest annual report that it held a market share of just 1.7 percent in the Tanzanian market by the end of 2020.
KCB’s Tanzania market share in the period stood at 2.1 percent, and DTB’s at 3.8 percent.
Equity’s Tanzania unit has in the past suffered under the weight of high non-performing loans. It was also negatively affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and the government’s decision to shift to Dodoma from Dar es Salaam, where most of the bank’s branches are situated, which resulted in a loss of State-related business.
The bank, however, said in its 2021 full-year briefing in March that it is confident of a turnaround, saying it is reviewing its leadership and business model for the unit, and that the operating environment has improved post-Covid.
In other East African countries, the Kenyan banks enjoy a larger share of the market, the biggest being Equity’s DRC subsidiary at 24.7 percent, where it trades as EquityBCDC and is the second-largest lender in that country by market share.
In Rwanda, KCB is now the second-largest lender with a market share of 17 percent, behind Bank of Kigali at 37.5 percent, while I&M and Equity are the third and fourth-largest lenders respectively with market shares of 11.3 and 11 percent,
In Uganda, Equity and DTB account for 6.9 percent and five percent of the market respectively.
Kenyan lenders have partly relied on acquisitions to drive market share growth, such as Equity’s takeover of BCDC in the DRC and KCB’s acquisition of Banque Populaire du Rwanda Plc (BPR).
Equity and KCB have however recently failed in proposed acquisitions in Tanzania after they walked away from proposed deals to acquire BancABC Tanzania from Atlas Mara in 2020 and 2021 respectively.
cmwaniki@ke.nationmedia.com
Kenyan banks are struggling for market share in Tanzania despite a decade-plus presence in the country.
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KCB acquisition of Tanzanian bank flops
THURSDAY DECEMBER 02 2021
KCB Bank branch in Kenya. KCB Group has cancelled its plan to acquire a Tanzanian lender from London-listed Atlas Mara Limited. PHOTO | FILE | NMG
Summary
- KCB terminates acquisition of African Banking Corporation Tanzania citing regulatory approval hurdles.
- Lender says it will explore other opportunities to expand its African presence.
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By BRIAN NGUGI
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KCB Group has cancelled its plan to acquire a Tanzanian lender from London-listed Atlas Mara Limited, citing regulatory hurdles.
K
CB in late November 2020 announced that it would acquire 62.06 percent stake in Banque Populaire Du Rwanda (BPR) and 100 percent stake in African Banking Corporation Tanzania Limited (BancABC).
The lender, which already has a presence in the two markets, signed a share purchase agreement Atlas Mara and gave itself a six-month timeline to complete the deal.
Read:
KCB completes acquisition of Rwandan bank
The transaction would be settled in cash with $32 million being incurred on BPR and $8 million on BancABC. The actual cash consideration payable by KCB would, however, be determined based on the final book value of the two banks at the completion of the transactions.
The Kenyan multinational lender, with a presence in five East African markets, said the acquisitions reflected its expansion strategy in the regional market.
“As announced, completion of the transaction was subject to certain conditions...including receipt of all regulatory approvals. As of the date hereof, certain regulatory approvals have not been received within the prescribed timeframe specified in the Agreement,” said KCB in a regulatory notice to shareholders on Tuesday.
“As a result, without further agreement by the parties to extend the long-stop date, the agreement has been terminated and, accordingly, the parties will not proceed to complete the transaction as previously envisaged.”
KCB completed the purchase of the Rwandan bank in August, acquiring a 76 percent stake in BPR from Atlas Mara (62 percent) and private equity firm Arise (14 percent). It plans to acquire the remaining 24 percent stake owned by other minority investors.
KCB had inked the deal with Mara months after Equity Bank Group called off its plan to acquire four banking subsidiaries from Atlas Mara, saying it needed to preserve its capital in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The parties had initiated talks in April 2019, but the negotiations targeting Atlas Mara’s units in Rwanda, Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique dragged on until the pandemic hit.
Atlas Mara is selling its African banks to KCB and other lenders to raise funds to pay its creditors, some of whom had launched liquidation proceedings against the multinational that was the brainchild of former Barclays Plc’s chief executive Bob Diamond.
Big banks led by Equity, KCB, and I&M and DTB have been deepening and expanding their presence in the region in pursuit of growth and diversification.
KCB says it will explore other opportunities “in order to enhance our regional participation, accelerate our growth and maintain sustainable long-term African success in line with our expansion and growth strategy.”
KCB terminates acquisition of African Banking Corporation Tanzania citing regulatory approval hurdles.
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