Equity Group Holdings Limited (EGHL), formerly Equity Bank Group, is a financial services holding company based in the African Great Lakes region. EGHL's headquarters are in Nairobi, Kenya, with the following subsidiaries: Equity Bank (Kenya), Equity Bank (Uganda), Equity Bank (South Sudan), Equity Bank (Rwanda), and Equity Bank (Tanzania).
Overview
EGHL is a large financial services conglomerate. As of 30 September 2014, it had an estimated asset base of over US$3.83 billion (KES:339.44 billion) and estimated shareholders' equity of more than US$644.6 million (KES:57.1 billion). EGHL has a customer base in excess of 9.2 million in the five East African countries it serves, making it the largest commercial bank on the African continent by customer numbers.
In June 2008, EGHL was voted by Euromoney Awards for Excellence as the best bank in Kenya. EGHL was named the overall best bank in Kenya at the Renaissance Capital Bank Awards in August 2008 and was cited locally as the only stock that returned positive shareholder value during 2008 at the Nairobi Stock Exchange. EGHL was named as the "Best Performing Company in Africa" during the annual African Investor Index Awards, held on 21 September 2009, in New York City. EGHL has exclusive rights to issue American Express credit cards across the African continent outside South Africa.
History
EGHL was founded in Kenya, the largest economy in the East African Community, as Equity Building Society (EBS), in October 1984. EBS was originally a provider of mortgage financing for customers in the low income population. Large numbers of Africans have historically been excluded from formal sources of capital, such as banks, building societies and other regulated financial institutions. They knew little about these resources, which makes financial literacy and education strategically important to Equity Bank's growth. Also due to its rural banking orientation, promotion of agribusiness is a significant and strategic intervention by the bank.
Having been declared technically insolvent in 1993, Equity Bank Group later returned to profitability in the following years. By 2011, Equity Bank had more than 7.15 million customers; nearly half of bank accounts in Kenya. The company's vision is "to be the champion of the socio-economic prosperity of the people of Africa".
Equity Bank has been severally voted the "best bank in retail banking" due to, among other factors, the customer dedication and talented management team. In addition to enjoying widespread recognition domestically, the company has attracted a lot of global accolades and awards, as other developing countries in Africa and Asia seek to learn from Equity's low margin, high-volume model.
The Banker listed Equity Bank among the Top 1,000 Banks in the World with the highest return on assets in the African continent, generating a rate of 6.84 per cent on assets employed.
Prior to November 2014, Equity Bank was both a licensed bank and a holding company for its subsidiaries. On October 31, 2014, Equity Bank Group announced its intention to incorporate a new wholly owned subsidiary, Equity Bank (Kenya) Limited, to which it would transfer its Kenyan banking business, assets and liabilities. The rationale for the re-organisation is that by converting Equity Bank into a non-trading holding company that owns both banking and non-banking subsidiary companies and provides strategic, brand, risk and talent management to its subsidiaries, the Group will be better placed to invest and to develop the existing and new businesses as part of its third phase of growth and transformation. These resolutions were all adopted during an extraordinary shareholders general meeting held on November 24, 2014 leading to the formation of Equity Bank Kenya Limited.
In May 2015, the group announced it was acquiring 79 percent of DR Congo based ProCredit Bank Congo SARL from Procredit Group. This acquisition would mark the group's entry into sub-Saharan Africa's third most populous country.
Ownership
The stock of Equity Group Holdings Limited is traded on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, under the symbol: EQTY. On Thursday 18 June 2009, the Group's stock cross listed on the Uganda Securities Exchange and started trading that day, under the symbol: EBL. As of January 2015, shareholding in the group's stock was as depicted in the table below:
- By Virtue of his shareholding and units in British American Investments Company Limited and Employee Share Ownership Plan (ESOP) respectively, Group CEO James Mwangi's total direct and indirect shareholding is 4.88%. Totals may be slightly off due to rounding.
Board of directors
Peter Munga, CBS, chairman
James Mwangi, CBS managing director & chief executive officer
Benson Wairegi, EBS, non-executive vice-chairman
Temitope Lawani, non-executive director
Julius Kipng'etich, chief operations officer
Fredrick Muchoki, HSC, non-executive director
Ernest Nzovu, non-executive director
Babatunde Soyoye, non-executive director
Shem Migot-Adholla, non-executive director, non-executive chairman Equity Bank South Sudan
Helen Gichohi, OGW, MBS, non-executive director
David R. Ansell, non-executive director, non-executive chairman Equity Bank Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania
Alykhan Nathoo, non-executive director
Dennis Aluanga, non-executive director
John Staley, non-executive director Equity Bank Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania
Elizabeth Lwanga, non-executive director Equity Bank Uganda
George Alibaruho, non-executive director Equity Bank Uganda
Mary Wamae, company secretary.
Member companies
The companies that compose the Equity Group Holdings Limited include but are not limited to the following:
- Equity Bank Kenya Limited - Nairobi, Kenya - 100% Shareholding - A commercial bank in Kenya, serving individuals and businesses.
- Equity Bank Rwanda Limited - Kigali, Rwanda - 100% Shareholding - A commercial bank in Rwanda, serving both individuals and businesses.
- Equity Bank South Sudan Limited - Juba, South Sudan - 100% Shareholding - A commercial bank in South Sudan.
- Equity Bank Tanzania Limited - Dar es Salaam, Tanzania - 100% Shareholding - A commercial bank in Tanzania.
- Equity Bank Uganda Limited - Kampala, Uganda - 100% Shareholding - A commercial bank in Uganda.
- Equity Consulting Group Limited - Nairobi, Kenya
- Equity Insurance Agency Limited - Nairobi, Kenya - 100% Shareholding - The insurance agency arm of the group. Offering bancassurance services to customers
- Equity Nominees Limited - Nairobi, Kenya - 100% Shareholding - A Nominee company. Holding investments on behalf of customers.
- Equity Investment Bank Limited - Nairobi, Kenya - 100% Shareholding - An investment bank in Kenya. A member of the Nairobi Securities Exchange and licensed by the Capital Markets Authority.
- Finserve Africa Limited - Nairobi, Kenya - 100% Shareholding - A mobile virtual network operator(MVNO) in the Kenya.
- Equity Group Foundation - Nairobi, Kenya - 100% Shareholding - The philanthropy and corporate social responsibility arm of the group.
See also
- British-American Investments Company
- Nairobi Stock Exchange
- Uganda Securities Exchange
References
ArrayExternal links
- Equity Bank Homepage
- Nairobi Securities Exchange Website
- Central Bank of Kenya
- Equity Bank Builds KSh20 Billion War Chest for Africa Buyouts
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