CRDB Bank gets licence to operate in DR Congo

 

By Josephine Christopher

Josephine Christopher is a business reporter for The Citizen and Mwananchi newspapers.

Mwananchi Communications Limitted

Summary

·         CRDB Bank will start with a branch in Lubumbashi and expand its network to major cities such as Kinshasa, Lualaba, Kasai, Kisangani, Tanganyika, and North and South Kivu within the first three years of its operations in that country.

Dar es Salaam. CRDB Bank Plc said yesterday that it has finally secured a licence to operate in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), expanding its foothold in the East African Community region. DR Congo is the newest member of the EAC. CRDB already operates in Burundi.

DRC’s central bank, known in French as Banque Centrale du Congo (BCC), granted the licence to CRDB Bank during a special meeting between its management and that of the delegation of CRDB Bank Plc, led by chief finance officer, Mr Fredrick Nshekanabo.

CRDB Bank Plc said in a statement that upon granting the licence, the First Vice Governor of the BCC, Dieudonné Fikiri Alimasi, congratulated the CRDB Bank for the step, saying that it will boost competition in the delivery of financial services in the DRC.

 “We were happy to receive your request to open a subsidiary because of the existing cordial relations between our two countries. I congratulate you for the cooperation you provided in everything we asked for,” he said.

According to the statement, Mr Alimasi also stated that the BCC has also approved the appointment of Ms Jessica Nyachiro as Managing Director of the CRDB Bank’s DRC subsidiary.

On her part, Ms Nyachiro said that CRDB Bank would comply with the needs and requirements of the DRC market in the same manner as it does with Tanzania and Burundi.

She explained that CRDB Bank will start with a branch in Lubumbashi and expand its network to major cities such as Kinshasa, Lualaba, Kasai, Kisangani, Tanganyika, and North and South Kivu within the first three years of its operations in that country.

“Our bank is investing heavily in digital systems as well as a network of branches, and we also expect to use alternative delivery channels such as CRDB Wakala, SimBanking, and Internet banking to connect many Congolese people to our services,” said Ms Nyachiro.

CRDB Bank Plc announced last year that it would enter the DRC market with a capital of $30 million (about Sh70 billion). CRDB Bank has a 55 percent stake in the DRC subsidiary, while the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries (Norfund) and the Danish Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU) own 22.5 percent equity each.