Kenya Commercial Bank to Buy Out a Uganda Bank in Bid to Increase Market Share

The Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Group is considering buying out a bank in Uganda to shore up its market share in the country.

East Africa’s biggest lender by asset base disclosed the plan during a briefing with research analysts last week.

“Management also noted that KCB’s focus was to have at least 10 per cent share in all markets it operates in. To this end, management hinted on possible acquisitions, especially in Uganda,” said Standard Investment Bank in a note to investors.

Investment analysts, who attended the briefing by KCB management, told the Business Daily a Kenyan News paper that the slow growth of the personal and mortgage loans in Uganda had limited KCB’s reach to corporate clients, a situation the lender is determined to change.

The bank has a two per cent market share in Uganda and three per cent in Tanzania, compared to 14 per cent in Kenya, 40 per cent in South Sudan and seven per cent in Rwanda.

The acquisition is, however, seen as a lesser priority for the bank given that it has already broken even in Uganda.

The bank recently entered Burundi and is still eying other markets such as South Africa.