Kenya’s KCB Bank expressed its desire to engage in the Ethiopian financial sector, becoming the latest bank to show such an interest in Africa’s second most populous country.
Ethiopia’s Council of Ministers passed a landmark decision to open up the country’s banking sector to foreign investors.
The first ever move was a part of the government’s economic reform that is opening previously state-controlled sectors to foreign investors.
The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) has been working on amending the law and regulatory system in a bid to change the banking policy.
Opening the sector to foreign investment is expected to support banking services in Ethiopia and would take the country’s economic link with the international market to “a higher level”.
KCB’s interest to enter the Ethiopian finance sector also comes as Kenyan banks are threatened by another crisis triggered by the deteriorating economic environment and the persistent Russia-Ukraine military conflict after demonstrating strong recovery from the economic falling-out effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
KCB has over 125 years of experience in the banking sector and is operating in seven East African countries.