NAIROBI, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), a regional financial institution is seeking to enter into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) as part of its regional expansion plans, an official said on Thursday.
Joshua Oigara, KCB Group CEO told an investor briefing in Nairobi that the central African country remains a priority market because it has a huge underserved financial services sector.
"Our entry into DR Congo will likely be through an acquisition, consolidation and purchase of an existing financial institution and when an opportunity does come up this is an area we will look into," Oigara said when KCB Group released its 2019 full-year financial results.
KCB Group currently has presence in Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, South Sudan, Uganda and Rwanda. It also maintains a representative office in Ethiopia.
Oigara said that his commercial bank is keenly waiting for the full liberalization of the banking sector in Ethiopia.
"Since we already have a presence in Ethiopia, we will probably be the first foreign bank to operate under a full banking license," he noted.
The regional bank is keen to expand its presence across Africa in order to diversify its revenue streams as well as tap into a growing demand for financial services across the region.
According to the KCB Group financial results for 2019, the institution recorded a net profit of 25.2 billion shillings (246 million U.S. dollars), up five percent from the previous financial year.
