Banks posted a 4.9 percent decline in pre-tax profit generated from the Kenyan market in the nine months ended September as loan defaults soared to levels last seen 16 years ago.

Kenyan financial company Equity Group Holdings has acquired more than 99 per cent of shares in Rwandan lender Cogebanque.

Kenya’s stock market recently suffered steep losses, making it the worst performing globally. The weak performance has persisted: the Nairobi Securities Exchange 20-share index stood at about 1420 on 10 November 2023, having fallen from 1509 on 29 September 2023, a drop of 6% over the six-week period. In better days, the index has risen above the psychological 5000 mark: for example, it was 5491 on 23 February 2015.

Double-digit growth from subsidiaries in the East African region lifted Equity Group’s net profits to Sh34.6 billion in the first nine months of the year, mitigating the 20 percent dip in earnings from its Kenyan unit.