CRDB to open branches in Zambia, DR Congo next year

Dar es Salaam. CRDB Bank’s plan to open subsidiaries in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will materialise next year after completion of an ongoing feasibility study, the bank has announced.

The bank’s managing director Dr Charles Kimei said at the weekend that after a successful Rights Issue, the bank is currently finalising its feasibility studies before venturing into the two markets.

“Of course we conducted a Rights Issue to raise funds for our national and regional expansion…the issue was successful and we are currently finalising our feasibility studies so we can open subsidiaries in Zambia and in the DRC….we are looking at the regulatory environments there and the type of customers that we should anticipate there,” he told reporters as the bank marked the climax of the Customer Service Week.

CRDB raised a total of Sh152 billion through the rights offering in August this year which stock market experts described as the biggest capital amount to be raised during the 19 years of the DSE’s existence. With the money, Dr Kimei now puts the bank’s capital at Sh600 billion, which puts it at the right footing to give out an increased amount of loan to their clients.

“With a balance sheet of slightly above Sh5 trillion and a capital of about Sh600 billion, we can now give out up to Sh150 billion in loan to one client at a go,” he said boastfully, noting that the capital has reached that level after the successful Rights Issue.

He spoke to reporters during a special occasion, held at the bank’s Oysterbay branch in the city, in which CRDB decided to cut a cake together with some of its clients as one of the many activities that were undertaken to mark this year’s Customer Service Week. He said with a 16 per cent lending rate, CRDB has the best charges in the market where costs on loans go up to 24 per cent. “However, we knew that our clients may still have some more issues to tell us since there is always a room for improvement,” he said.