Equity Group Holdings has invested KSh 383 million in its DR Congo subsidiary in 2021.
Being one of its most profitable operations outside Kenya, the new develop brings Equity’s total investment in the Central African to KSh 17.3 billion.
The subsidiary comes second to Kenya’s KSh 40.7 billion investment.
Equity Group Holdings purchased a 7.7 percent stake in Equity Bank Congo (EBC) from German sovereign wealth fund KfW for KSh 996 million.
Following the acquisition, the financial services group’s profit increased from KSh 8.7 billion in the first quarter of 2021 to KSh 11.9 billion in the same period of 2022.
The high profits were attributed to an increase in net interest income from KSh 20.34 billion to KSh 26.67 billion.
Equity Banque Commerciale du Congo (Equity BCDC) is a merger between Equity Bank Congo (EBC), formerly ProCredit Bank DRCongo, and Banque Commerciale du Congo.
This followed the acquisition of majority shareholding in both banks by the Equity Group Holdings with total assets in excess of KSh 116.55 billion.
In May 2015, Equity Group announced that it had agreed to pay KSh 7 billion for 79 percent shareholding in Procredit Bank.
The group has a customer base exceeding 9.2 million in the five East African countries it serves, making it the largest commercial bank on the African continent by customer numbers.
The deal was concluded following regulatory approval by Kenyan and Congolese authorities, which was obtained in September 2015.