Rwanda’s Bank of Kigali says Q1 profit rose 8.8 pct

Rwanda’s Bank of Kigali pretax profits rose 8.8 percent year-on-year in the first quarter to $6.8 million and the bank expects the opening of an office in Kenya to help it tap more opportunities.

The bank, which is the largest in the small African state by assets and has a 34 percent market share, said its net interest income rose 48 percent from a year ago to $11.6 million as loans expanded.

“With our entry into Kenya, we look to extend our broad product offering to corporate entities in East Africa as we seek to unlock further trade and investment opportunities in the region,” Chief Executive Officer James Getara said in a statement.

The bank opened a representative office in Nairobi during the period under review, bucking the trend in the region, where Kenyan banks have been expanding around the region, at a time when lenders of other nations were not expanding into Kenya.

Rwanda, which has a population of just over 10 million, borders the bigger east African states of Uganda and Tanzania with Kenya just to the east.

Reuters