Equity Bank Named East Africa’s Top Lender

Equity Bank has been named the top lender in East Africa by capitalization.

According to Business Focus, the ranking by Africa Business placed the Kenyan bank ahead of his rivals based on the tier-one capital buffer.

East Africa’s Top Banks 2022 survey findings showed that the bank’s KSh 188.52 billion in capital also placed it in position 24 in Africa.

Coming in at the second position was KCB Group with a capital base of KSh 149.19 billion and Ethiopia Commercial Bank’s KSh 112.41 billion.

“One key indicator of the weakness of the Eastern African banking sector is the fact that the size of capital needed to secure the final position in our regional Top 20 is the lowest of all the other regions at $159 million

“For Kenyan banks at least, more rapid bank growth could come from the resumption of their expansion into other markets,” the report read in part.

As earlier reported on WoK, KCB Bank Tanzania graduated to tier one – highest ranking in the banking industry – after its asset value hit KSh 1.04 trillion.

According to the Bank of Tanzania (BoT), a bank should command an asset of at least KSh 1 trillion in order to graduate to tier one.

According to The Citizen, the bank’s assets was hugely attributed to the growth in customer deposits and profits.

KCB Bank managing director, Cosmas Kimairo, said customer deposits increased by 103 percent between 2017 and 2022.

At the same time, Kimairo noted that profits before tax increased by 182 percent in the five-year period.

“We are grateful that our bank is now one of the big lenders in Tanzania’s banking sector,” Kimairo said

He noted that the bank’s impressive performance was contributed by strong bank strategies, improvement in the country’s business environment and the use of digital technology in its operations.

“Digital services like internet banking, mobile banking and point of sale have increased efficiency in service delivery to our customers

“Above all, we have been investing in human resources to speed up our efficiency,” Kimairo added.

Tier-one capital is used as a gauge of a bank’s ability to fund the business activities of its clients.