Rwandan bank shuts its Kenya office, goes digital

Rwanda's leading financial institution, The Bank of Kigali (BoK) has shut down its Representative Office in Nairobi.

According to a statement from the Central Bank of Kenya, the closure of the Kigali-based bank was a voluntary termination following a strategic decision taken by the bank's operator; Kigali Group Plc.

According to the notice, the bank that is eying digital emancipation as its next frontier has decided to focus more on digital service delivery channels.

Kenya's banking regulator, CBK permitted the establishment of the Bank of Kigali's Representative Office in Kenya on February 12, 2013.

It was the first foreign bank from the East African Community to be granted authority to operate a Representative Office in Kenya.

"The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) announces the cancellation of the authority granted to the Bank of Kigali (BoK) to operate a Representative Office in Kenya under Section 43 of the Banking Act, effective April 2, 2024," CBK said.

"The voluntary termination of BoK's presence in Kenya follows a strategic decision taken by the Bank of Kigali Group Plc (BoK's parent company) to focus more on digital service delivery channels," the statement reads.

Bank of Kigali was incorporated in the Republic of Rwanda on December 22, 1966, as a joint venture between the Government of Rwanda and Belgolaise, the subsidiary of Fortis Bank.

The public-private partnership involved the ownership of 50 per cent of the ordinary share capital. The bank commenced its operations in 1967, serving as one of the then-market leaders in the banking sector. Following Fortis Bank's strategy of withdrawing its operations in Africa in 2005, the Government of Rwanda acquired the Belgolaise share in 2007, thus increasing its direct and indirect shareholding in the Bank to 100 per cent.

Africa is witnessing a sharp rise in mobile banking according to banking trends. Mobile banking in the continent started as a facility for transferring airtime between mobile accounts.

Today, 48 per cent of Africa's population uses banking services, according to the African Digital Banking Transformation Report 2023.

While this still means that around half of the population is unbanked and cash remains the dominant form of payment, digital banking continues to expand at pace across the continent.

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