Commercial Bank of Africa Group (CBA Group) is a financial services provider in

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical ...

. Its headquarters are located in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

, Kenya, with subsidiaries in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

and

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

. The CBA Group is a large financial services group in East Africa, with an asset base valued at KSh:234.79 billion (US$2.343 billion), with shareholders' equity of KSh:28.38 billion (US$283.2 million), as of 30 September 2017.

History

Commercial Bank of Africa was established in 1962 in Dar es Salaam,

as a subsidiary of Swiss-based ''Société Financière pour les Pays d'Outre-Mer'' (SFOM). The SFOM consortium included BanqueNationale de Paris,

Bank Bruxelles Lambert Bank Brussels Lambert (BBL, french: Banque Bruxelles Lambert) was a Belgian bank that was created through merger in 1975 and became part of ING Group in 1998. It provided retail and commercial banking services to individuals and businesses in Belgi ...

, Commerz Bank and

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank ...

. Branches of the bank were established in

and

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. Another branch was opened in

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

. In 1967, the

Government of Tanzania The politics of Tanzania takes place in a framework of a unitary presidential democratic republic, whereby the President of Tanzania is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the ...

nationalized all commercial banks in the country as part of the government's nationalization of large industries in its execution of the Arusha Declaration. This nationalization led the bank to move its headquarters to Nairobi. In 1971, the Ugandan business was sold off to

Barclays Bank of Uganda Absa Bank Uganda Limited, formerly known as Barclays Bank of Uganda Limited, is a commercial bank in Uganda. It is licensed by the Bank of Uganda, the central bank and national banking regulator. The bank is a subsidiary of Absa Group Limited, a ...

. This was due to the then prevailing political instability in the country.

BOA Kwon Bo-ah (; born November 5, 1986), known professionally as BoA, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, dancer, record producer and actress. One of the most successful and influential Korean entertainers, she has been dubbed the " Queen of K- ...

gained majority control of CBA in 1981 after BOA acquired shares held by other shareholders in the bank except for 16% that was held by local shareholders. Between 1984 and 1991, BOA re-organised CBA, developing and installing Bank of America's global systems and disciplines before selling its majority shares to local Kenyan investors. Bank of America continued to provide management to the bank via a management agreement before eventually selling the rest of its shares in 1991. Since then, CBA became a wholly owned Kenyan bank recognised for operational efficiency and quality service delivery. In July 2005,

Commercial Bank of Africa Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA) was a financial services provider headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, the largest economy in the East African Community. CBA was licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya, the central bank and national banking regulator. ...

(CBA) acquired majority shareholding in First American Bank of Kenya. At that time First American owned a subsidiary in

called United Bank of Africa. This marked the bank's reentry into Tanzania after the 1967 nationalization of its operations in the country. In 2007, United Bank of Africa changed its name to

Commercial Bank of Africa (Tanzania) Commercial Bank of Africa (Tanzania) (CBAT) is a commercial bank in Tanzania. It is licensed by the Bank of Tanzania, the country's central bank and national banking regulator. The bank is a subsidiary of the Commercial Bank of Africa Group and ha ...

leading to the formation of the

CBA Group Commercial Bank of Africa Group (CBA Group) is a financial services provider in East Africa. Its headquarters are located in Nairobi, Kenya, with subsidiaries in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Ivory Coast. The CBA Group is a large financi ...

. In March 2012, CBA Group initiated action to acquire a 62% stake in

Royal Bank Zimbabwe Royal Bank Zimbabwe, whose complete name is Royal Bank Zimbabwe Limited, commonly referred to as Royal Bank, was a licensed commercial bank in that formerly operated in Zimbabwe. Overview Royal Bank was a privately owned financial institution and ...

, a

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

-based commercial bank. However, both parties failed to finalize on the deal within given regulatory time frames. On July 31, 2012, The

Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is the central bank of Zimbabwe and is headquartered in the capital city Harare. History The bank traces its history to the Reserve Bank of Rhodesia, founded on 22 May 1964, but which succeeded the Bank of Rhodesia ...

determined Royal Bank to be insolvent. Royal Bank then surrendered its banking licence and closed down. CBA Group re-entered the Ugandan market in 2014 through its wholly owned subsidiary, Commercial Bank of Africa Uganda Limited making it the 26th commercial bank in the Uganda. In 2016, Commercial Bank of Africa Group announced plans to establish its mobile banking service M-Shwari in

in collaboration with the telecommunications conglomerate, MTN International. In December 2016, the CBA Group acquired a Rwandan Microfinance banking licence, thereby establishing Commercial Bank of Africa (Rwanda), also CBA Bank Rwanda. In mid-2017, negotiations for CBA Bank Rwanda to acquire

Crane Bank Rwanda Crane Bank Rwanda was a commercial bank in Rwanda, licensed by National Bank of Rwanda, the central bank and national banking regulator. In June 2017, the Commercial Bank of Africa signed an agreement to acquire the assets to Crane Bank of Rwanda ...

were concluded, but required regulatory approval from the

National Bank of Rwanda The National Bank of Rwanda ( rw, Banki Nkuru Y'u Rwanda, french: Banque Nationale du Rwanda) is the central bank of Rwanda. The bank was founded in 1964. The current governor of the bank is John Rwangombwa. Location It is quartered at the N ...

, the

Central Bank of Kenya The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) ( sw, Banki Kuu ya Kenya) is the monetary authority of Kenya. Its head office is located in Nairobi. CBK was founded by in 1966 after the dissolution of East African Currency Board (EACB). Dr. Patrick Ngugi Njoroge ...

and the

Bank of Uganda The Bank of Uganda ( sw, Benki Kuu ya Uganda) is the central bank of Uganda. Established in 1966, by Act of Parliament, the bank is wholly owned by the government but is not a government department. History In 1979 and again in 1987, the Ba ...

Crane Bank Crane Bank Limited is a commercial bank in Uganda licensed and supervised by the Bank of Uganda (BOU), the central bank and national banking regulator. Crane Bank was acquired by DFCU Bank in January 2017 at a cost of Ush200 billion ($52.8 million ...

in Uganda had failed and its assets and liabilities in Uganda had been acquired by

DFCU Bank DFCU Bank, registered as the Development Finance Company of Uganda Bank Limited, is a commercial bank in Uganda. It is licensed by the Bank of Uganda (BoU), Uganda's central bank and national banking regulator. Overview As of December 2021, DFC ...

. However, DFCU did not want to keep the Rwandan subsidiary. The deal was concluded during the first quarter of 2018 and CBA Bank Rwanda opened with three branches in

Kigali Kigali () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali has been Rwa ...

Merger with NIC Group Plc

In December 2018, CBA Group announced that it would be merging with NIC Group Plc creating Kenya's third-biggest bank. The merger involved the transfer of 100 percent of the shares of CBA Group by its shareholders to NIC Group in exchange for 53 percent of the newly formed group, making the deal a

reverse merger A reverse takeover (RTO), reverse merger, or reverse IPO is the acquisition of a public company by a private company so that the private company can bypass the lengthy and complex process of going public. Sometimes, conversely, the public compa ...

. The Transaction was approved by the Kenyan regulators and shareholders by April 2019. , the merged group was still operating two sets of banks in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania but was in the process of seeking regulatory approval to merge these businesses so that they can have one bank in each country and a group rebranding.

Member Companies

The companies that compose the CBA Group include: * Commercial Bank of Africa (Kenya):

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

– 100% shareholding - A commercial bank in Kenya, serving individuals and businesses. This is the flagship company of the group. *

: Dar es Salaam,

– 100% shareholding - A commercial bank in Tanzania, serving both individuals and businesses. *

Commercial Bank of Africa (Uganda) The Commercial Bank of Africa (Uganda) (CBAU) is a commercial bank in Uganda. The bank opened in 2014, following the issuance of a commercial banking license by the Bank of Uganda, the central bank and the national banking regulator. The bank is a ...

: 100% shareholding - A commercial bank in Uganda, serving both individuals and businesses. * Commercial Bank of Africa (Rwanda):

* CBA Insurance Agency Limited:

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

– 100% shareholding - Offering

Bancassurance Bancassurance is a relationship between a bank and an insurance company that is aimed at offering insurance products or insurance benefits to the bank's customers. In this partnership, bank staff and tellers become the point of sale and point o ...

services. CBA Group owns 100% of the company. * CBA Capital Limited –

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

– 100% shareholding - An

investment bank Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort. In finance, the purpose of investing i ...

licensed by the Capital Markets Authority. CBA Group owns 100% of the company. * CBA Property Holdings Limited –

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

– 100% shareholding - Property Holding company * AIG Kenya Insurance Company Limited –

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

– 33.33% shareholding the balance held by the

American International Group American International Group, Inc. (AIG) is an American multinational finance and insurance corporation with operations in more than 80 countries and jurisdictions. , AIG companies employed 49,600 people.https://www.aig.com/content/dam/aig/amer ...

. - Offering general insurance. * CBA Ivory Coast -

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, making it the sixth most populous city p ...

- CBA Group, in collaboration with

MTN Group MTN Group Limited, formerly M-Cell, is a South African multinational mobile telecommunications company, operating in many African and Asian countries. Its head office is in Johannesburg. , MTN recorded 280 million subscribers, making it the ...

, offers M-Shwari mobile-money service in Ivory Coast.

Ownership

The stock of Commercial Bank of Africa Group is privately held. The Kenyatta family controls 24.91 percent of CBA through an investment vehicle called Enke Investments Limited. The table below illustrates the shareholding in the company stock, as of December 2017.

References

External links

Website of Commercial Bank of Africa (Tanzania)

Shareholders & Regulators Approve CBA's Investment In Royal Bank Zimbabwe
{{Banking in Kenya Banks of Kenya Economy of Kenya 1962 establishments in Tanzania Banks established in 1962

History

Merger with NIC Group Plc

Member Companies

Ownership

See also

References

External links