All Africa
By James Kariuki
Morocco’s BMCE Bank has increased its shareholding in Kenya’s Bank of Africa (BOA) to 72.7 per cent and acquired a Sh1.4bn office block in Nairobi’s Westlands to house its regional headquarters.
Incoming BOA’s Managing Director Ronald Marambii said the move was aimed at raising capital to meet customer financial needs across Kenya and around Africa where it has 18 subsidiaries with a total of 1,200 branch networks serving its 2.3 million customers.
“The larger shareholding by BMCE Bank means that we are now part of a strong strategic partner and we can better focus on our main goal which is to finance the African economy, that includes retail customers, companies of all sizes, private and public projects,” said Mr Marambii.
FOCUS ON KENYA
The bank said it had decided to focus on the Kenyan market due to its vibrant business that saw its total capital base grow from Sh7.2 billion to Sh10.1 billion as at September 30, 2015, making it the largest and most profitable subsidiary for the group.
READ: BOA seeks Sh2.3bn for onward lending
BOA also Thursday said its parent company’s name will be included in its logo to reflect its diverse shareholding where BMCE Bank of Morocco now has 72.7per cent, Private African Investors 16.09 per cent, FMO 5.02 per cent, PROPARCO 3.84 per cent and BIO(2.35per cent).
“We started negotiations with the building developers almost two years ago and we project to have fully moved all our functions within the year” said Mr Marambii adding that this gave them a the right corporate presence that accords the Bank better synergies of its resources and control of it operational.
BOA Kenya has a branch network of 40 retail branches and 2 Business Centers in Mombasa and Nairobi.
