The Government has reformed banking to make it internationally competitive. In 2007, the Ministry of Finance proposed to raise bank capital from Sh250 million ($3.1 million) to Sh1 billion ($12.5 million) by 2010. This deadline has since been pushed to 2012. Foreign banks (Nigerian, South African and others) are investing in low-capital institutions.
After the profit growth of the first five years of the Kibaki administration, bank expansion has since crossedborders to Tanzania, Rwanda, Southern Sudan and Uganda. Local banks such as Equity, KCB and Cooperative are present in the region.
A significant development in banking has been the licensing of two Sharia-compliant commercial banks. First Community andGulf African were licensed in 2007. Consequently, the sector had 45 institutions – 43 commercial banks, two mortgage finance companies – by the end of 2008. of the 45,33 were local and 12 foreign-owned.
In 2009, the banks’ total assets were worth Sh 1.37 trillion ($17.1 billion). Profit before tax was a whopping Sh48.7 billion ($608.7 million). The Kenya Commercial Bank is the biggest in Kenya, with assetsworth Sh191 billion ($2.38 billion) in 2008. At the Nairobi Stock Exchange, banks and their holding companies are worth Sh270billion ($3.375 billion).
List of Banks in Kenya
1. African Banking Corporation Ltd.
2. Bank of Africa Kenya Ltd.
3. Bank of Baroda (K) Ltd.
4. Bank of India
5. Barclays Bank of Kenya Ltd.
6. CFC Stanbic Bank Ltd.
7. Charterhouse Bank Ltd
8. Chase Bank (K) Ltd.
9. Citibank N.A Kenya
10. Commercial Bank of Africa Ltd.
11. Consolidated Bank of Kenya Ltd.
12. Co-operative Bank of Kenya Ltd.
13. Credit Bank Ltd.
14. Development Bank of Kenya Ltd.
15. Diamond Trust Bank (K) Ltd.
16. Dubai Bank Kenya Ltd.
17. Ecobank Kenya Ltd
18. Equatorial Commercial Bank Ltd.
19. Equity Bank Ltd.
20. Family Bank Ltd
21. Fidelity Commercial Bank Ltd
22. Fina Bank Ltd
23. First community Bank Limited
24. Giro Commercial Bank Ltd.
25. Guardian Bank Ltd
26. Gulf African Bank Limited
27. Habib Bank A.G Zurich
28. Habib Bank Ltd.
29. Imperial Bank Ltd
30. I & M Bank Ltd
31. Jamii Bora Bank Ltd.
32. Kenya Commercial Bank Ltd
33. K-Rep Bank Ltd
34. Middle East Bank (K) Ltd
35. National Bank of Kenya Ltd
36. NIC Bank Ltd
37. Oriental Commercial Bank Ltd
38. Paramount Universal Bank Ltd
39. Prime Bank Ltd
40. Standard Chartered Bank (K) Ltd
41. Trans-National Bank Ltd
42. Victoria Commercial BankLtd
43. UBA Kenya Bank Ltd.
