Consolidated Bank of Kenya plans to open 10 more branches within a span of two years. The Bank, which has been in existence for 20 years; currently boasts of 17 branches in Nairobi, Mombasa, Thika, Nakuru, Eldoret, Embu, Meru and in other major towns in the country. In its information memorandum for the recently issued Sh4 Billion Corporate Bond, the bank said that the new branches will aid in mobilizing deposits and in growing funded and non-funded income streams.

This comes at a time when the government announced plans to offer the state-owned institution to private investors. The Ministry of Finance Permanent Secretary, Joseph Kinyua, recently told the media that the Privatization Commission is working on listing Consolidated Bank shares on the Nairobi bourse. The privatization plans, according to Reuters, had been held up by the expiry of the Privatization Commission board, but a new board is being re-constituted.

Consolidated bank also recently issued a four billion shilling medium-term corporate bond to finance its business in the region. Speaking to the press, the Managing Director, Mr. David Wachira said “The issuance of this bond means that we are on our way to positioning the Bank as the top SME Bank in the region; and more importantly,  it means that the Bank is now able to provide longer term financing to our core clientele.”

Other than privatization and expansion, plans are underway for the bank to venture into the agency model to increase its outreach especially to the unbanked populace. The bank’s CEO, in a ceremony held in June to unveil a new logo for the bank said that they have already identified more than 350 potential agents to be engaged immediately after CBK approval of the service.

According to The Standard, the re-branding and opening of new branches is expected to boost profitability for the bank in the coming years.

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