Equity:First Bank to Surpass Ksh 1 Trillion in Deposits within East and Central Africa Region  

: Equity Group Holdings Becomes First East and Central African Bank to Surpass Ksh 1 Trillion in Deposits, Aims for Ksh 3 Trillion Balance Sheet by 2025
 By Charles Wachira 

Depositors of Equity Group Holdings PLC , Kenya’s biggest lender by assets have surpassed the Ksh 1 trillion ( US$ 8,184,645,600)  threshold, a first occurrence for a financial institution drawn from the  East and Central African region.

Quoting a highly placed source from the bank  who sought anonymity the local Star newspaper  on  Nov 21 said the bank was mobilizing  an average of Ksh 324 million ((US$ 2,651,825.17) daily and  was only waiting for a  greenlight from the Capital Markets Authority to announce the new development.

Attempts to validate the story from the bank came a cropper.  

And according to the Daily, by the end of June 22 deposits at the bank were valued at Ksh 970.9 million ( US$ 7,945,171.80)  which meant the lender required Ksh 29.1 billion ( US$ 238,134,204.60) to hit one trillion shillings.

Presently, Equity Bank has 16.9 million customers making it the largest bank in terms of customer base in Africa and having nearly half of bank accounts in Kenya.

Within three years, the lender  plans to triple its balance sheet  by expanding trade finance in the six African nations it operates, according to Chief Executive Officer James Mwangi.

The balance sheet of Kenya’s largest lender may reach 3 trillion shillings ($25 billion) by 2025 after it doubled over the past two years, Mwangi told investors this Aug 23 Tuesday.

Besides Kenya, this 38-year-old Bank   has subsidiaries in Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda, Tanzania, DRC, and a Commercial Representative Office in Ethiopia but has plans to have a presence in nine other countries by 2026.

Keywords:Equity Group Holdings deposits:Ksh 1 trillion milestone:East and Central Africa banking:Trade finance expansion:Balance sheet growth to Ksh 3 trillion