Bank of Kigali Goes Digital in Kenya After Shutting Operations

Bank of Kigali (BoK) has ceased operations in Nairobi after the Central Bank of Kenya withdrew its license effective 2^nd April 2024. CBK, in a statement, said Bank of Kigali had made a strategic decision to opt for digital operations in Kenya instead of having a physical presence.

“The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) announces the cancellation of the authority granted to the Bank of Kigali (BoK) to operate a Representative Office in Kenya under Section 43 of the Banking Act, effective April 2, 2024,” CBK said in a statement released on 5^th April.

“The voluntary termination of BoK’s presence in Kenya follows a strategic decision taken by the Bank of Kigali Group Plc (BoK’s parent company) to focus more on digital service delivery channels.”

CBK authorised the establishment of Bank of Kigali’s Representative Office in Kenya on February 12, 2013.

BoK, headquartered in Kigali, is a banking institution founded in 1966, licensed and supervised by the National Bank of Rwanda under the Law governing the organisation of banking.

The Government of Rwanda controls majority shareholding in the bank while the remaining portion is held between institutional and retail shareholders. Bank of Kigali is also cross listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.

In 2018, Bank of Kigali became the second firm in the region to cross-list its shares on the NSE, after Uganda’s utility firm Umeme, which cross-listed in 2012. The lender had in October last year become first firm listed in two markets to make it to the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) 20 Share Index. Experts had seen this as an opportunity for the bank to make inroads into the Kenyan Market.

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