CRDB Managing Director Dr Charles Kimei
Dr Kimei said the monetary union will
harmonise bank regulations and in that way cut costs and time for banks
in the bloc in opening branches in the region. “We (CRDB) have a plan to
cross more borders.
But of late we have been hesitating as
there is a plan to create monetary union for EAC,” Dr Kimei told the
‘Daily News’ in special interview.
Dr Kimei, who is also the chairperson of
Tanzania Bankers’ Association, said once the monetary union is created
it will be easier to open a branch anywhere in the EAC member states
because they will harmonise banking regulations in the region.
“This will help us in doing business. If
I want to cross to Kenya, for example, I just open a branch like I open
in Tanzania, because it will be supervised by Central Bank of Kenya
like what our central bank does,” Dr Kimei said.
The monetary union would also apply to
Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and even South Sudan. CRDB currently has a
subsidiary in Burundi with three branches. In the run-up to achieving a
common currency, the EAC nations aim to harmonize monetary and fiscal
policies and establish a common central bank.
At the moment Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania
and Rwanda are presenting their budgets simultaneously every June. In
late 2013 the EAC countries signed a joint protocol setting out the
process and convergence criteria for the monetary union.
The union envisaged in 2024 is the introduction of a common currency to replace the national currencies of member countries.
Out of EAC, CRDB Bank eyes to expand to
Lubumbashi in DR Congo to tap the growing potential in the area. “There
are a lot of businesses in Congo and our approach is to follow our
customers and we have them already in Lubumbashi,” Dr Kimei said.
The bank estimates that some 1,500
Tanzanians are doing various businesses in Lubumbashi, including
government institutions such as Tanzania Port Authority.
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