Bank of Kigali (BK) is a commercial bank in Rwanda. Bank of Kigali is the largest commercial bank in Rwanda, by total assets.
The Bank was incorporated in the Republic of Rwanda on 22 December 1966. Initially Bank of Kigali was founded as a joint venture between the Government of Rwanda and Belgolaise, with each owning 50 percent of the ordinary share capital. In 1967, the Bank commenced its operations with its first branch in Kigali.
Belgolaise was a subsidiary of Fortis Bank (now defunct), operating in Sub-Saharan Africa but in 2005 began to withdraw from its operations in Africa in line with Fortis’ strategy. In 2007 the Government of Rwanda acquired the Belgolaise shareholding in Bank of Kigali, thereby increasing its direct and indirect shareholding in the Bank to 100% of the entire Issued Shares. In 2011, the Bank changed its name under the new law relating to companies from Bank of Kigali S.A to Bank of Kigali Limited.
On 21 June 2011, the Rwandan Capital Market Advisory Council approved plans for the bank to float 45 percent of its shares and list its shares on the Rwanda Stock Exchange (RSE), becoming the second domestic company to list on the RSE in a US$62.5 million Initial Public Offering. Trading in the shares of the bank started on 30 June 2011.
In December 2012, regional media reports indicated that the bank was in the middle of an expansion into neighboring Uganda. In February 2013, the bank received regulatory approval to open an office in Kenya. While regional expansion was a top priority under former CEO James Gatera, his successor, Diane Karusisi, has hinted that her focus is on further deepening the bank’s roots at home to tap into what still remains a largely formally un-banked population. According to FinScope’s survey on access to finance in Rwanda, out of 4 million adult Rwandans who have access to formal financial services, only 1.5 million adults or 26 percent of the total, use banks, with only slightly over 60,600 adults of the 1.5 million exclusively relying on banks; others have alternatives outside banking.
In May 2018, at the bank’s Annual General Meeting, the shareholders’ approved plans to cross-list the stock of the bank on the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE), the largest in the East African Community. The cross-listing and the planned rights issue, both during the second half of 2018, are raisedUS$70 million, to be deployed on the acquisition of new, improved ICT systems ($20 million), with the rest deployed in loans to support infrastructure projects at home.
Bank of Kigali remains majority owned by the Government of Rwanda through Rwanda Social Security Board and its sovereign wealth fund – Agaciro Development Fund.
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