James Mwangi in Nairobi, November 11, 2020 © Jackson Njehia / REUTERS Over ten days, James Mwangi – the Kenyan boss of Equity Group Holding – met several times with the authorities, including President Félix Tshisekedi, to recalibrate the operations of his subsidiary.
Meetings with banking sector leaders and Congolese officials punctuated James Mwangi’s ten-day visit to the DRC in early 2021.
Mwangi’s schedule is packed, the number of appointments proof of Equity Group Holding’s ambitions in the country.
According to our sources, Mwangi met with President Félix Tshisekedi who assured him of his full support in his new business venture in the DRC. Becoming the leading bank
Customers, investors and the authorities needed to be reassured after the mid-2020 takeover – approved by the regulator at the end of December – by the Banque commerciale du Congo (BCDC), which was formerly a part of the Belgian tycoon George Forrest’s business empire. They also wanted to know more about the subsequent merger between Equity’s local subsidiary and BCDC.
Mwangi’s visit may also have been triggered by a letter in which the governor of the Central Bank of Congo (BCC) called to order the majority shareholder of Equity BCDC, and his boss, Mwangi. “A complication that the latter knows how to deal with”, according to one of Mwangi’s close associates.
READ MORE Equity Group’s purchase of BCDC shows DRC’s banking potential
Equity Bank did not choose to set up in the DRC by chance, having spotted the opportunity for expansion beyond the Kenya base. While Equity once thought of taking over the assets of Atlas Mara in three countries – before choosing to buy the second largest bank in the DRC – the objective for the DRC expansion has always to become the leading bank in the country by the end of the year. The second-largest subsidiary of the group
Mwangi officially launched Equity BCDC’s activities on 11 February in front of a prestigious group of guests. These included the ambassadors to the DRC from Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Belgium, Clément Kwete Nyimi, the Congolese portfolio minister, Senator Bahati Lukwebo, as well as representatives from the International Finance Corporation (IFC, World Bank Group), USAID, the NGO Care and the UN.
“I am Kenyan, but I think I am even more African,” said Mwangi, demonstrating his commitment to all the countries in which his group operates.
READ MORE DRC’s problems with Kenya’s Equity Bank […]
