KCB Group has completed the acquisition of Banque Populaire du Rwanda (BPR) from Atlas Mara Mauritius Limited and Arise B.V. This follows the securing of the requisite regulatory approvals in Kenya and Rwanda in what makes KCB Group the majority shareholder in BPR, Rwanda’s second biggest bank.
Mr. Joshua Oigara, the Group Chief Executive Officer, KCB said that the completion of the transaction in Rwanda will give the lender a stronger edge in deepening its ongoing strategy to scale regional presence.
“The combined history of BPR and KCB will take the group to greater heights, giving us a stronger edge to play a bigger role in driving the financial inclusion and economic empowerment agenda in the East African region,” said Mr Oigara. “This will increase our scale and improve our operating leverage by enabling us to deliver our existing retail and wholesale offerings to a wider base of customers in Rwanda while positioning the bank for sustainable growth in the long-term,” he added.
BPR is a strong retail and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) bank. It has a large branch network as well as a long history spanning over forty five years in Rwanda.
The plan, said Mr Oigara, is to eventually create one banking entity in Rwanda to be named BPR Bank by merging KCB Bank Rwanda and BPR. KCB Group has appointed an integration committee made up of senior executives to spearhead the attainment of the single entity in Rwanda in the coming months.
The merger will provide the current KCB Rwanda’s customers with access to a larger network of branches and agents across the country. In the same vein, BPR customers will benefit from best-in-class digital capability, transactional banking solutions, trade finance expertise and international banking offering from KCB. The acquisition of BPR and BancABC provides KCB with an opportunity to rapidly scale up its balance sheet and revenue streams while leveraging cost synergies, effectively putting it on a path to greater prosperity.
