Kenyatta family bank sets up shop in Rwanda

Commercial Bank of Africa has concluded its deal to set up shop in Rwanda after acquiring Crane Bank Rwanda from DFCU.

DFCU, the 6th largest bank in Uganda that bought troubled Crane Bank last year, has sold off its entire stake in the Rwandan outfit, what will give President Uhuru Kenyatta family-owned bank a bigger footprint in the region.

CBA has operations in Kenya with 33 branches, Tanzania 11 and two in Uganda and is seeking to expand to Burundi and South Sudan. The lender entered Rwanda in 2016 with a microfinance licence offering a mobile banking service, MoCash.

“I&M Burbidge Capital is pleased to announce that it has advised DFCU Bank in the sale of its majority stake in Crane Bank Rwanda. The sale was concluded to CBA Bank, an East African Bank based in Kenya. I&M Burbidge Capital was the sole corporate adviser for DFCU Bank in the Transaction,” Edward Burbidge, the chief executive I&M Burbidge said.

CBA, which has grown significantly on the back of M-Shwari, is part of the Kenyatta family conglomerate which includes dairy company Brookside and hotel chain Heritage East Africa.

Bank of Uganda (BoU) sold Crane Bank to DFCU; the land locked country’s most profitable bank, after the former hit headwinds due to alleged fraud and mismanagement. Its former owner is Sudhir Ruparelia.

While Kenya has had trouble disposing of its failed lenders over the last three years, its peers at BoU have managed to resolve two bank collapses.

Chase Bank sale is still stuck in a rut even after assurances were given early this year that the sale of the lender to State Bank of Mauritius was impending in a couple of weeks.

When Imperial Bank collapsed in October 2015, BoU also sold the Ugandan subsidiary within six months to Tanzania’ Exim Bank which quickly renamed it to Uganda Exim Bank.

oguguyu@standardmedia.co.ke