Ecobank Group Gets CMA Nod to Launch Investment Bank in Kenya

In a statement sent to TechMoran today, EBI Investment Corporation Kenya Limited, a subsidiary of Ecobank Capital announced it has been granted an investment bank license by the Capital Markets Authority in Kenya to set up an investment bank in the country.

Ecobank Capital is the investment banking arm of the Ecobank Group, with operating offices currently in Abidjan, Accra, Lagos and Douala, including dealing membership of five African stock exchanges: the Ghana Stock Exchange, Nigerian Stock Exchange, Bourse Regionale des Valeurs Mobilières in Abidjan, Douala Stock Exchange and Bourse des Valeurs Mobilières d’Afrique Centrale in Libreville.

Ecobank Capital’s entry into Kenya follows its acquisition of the investment advisor Iroko Securities Kenya Limited in July 2013 and subsequent application to the Capital Markets Authority for an investment bank license in November 2013.

Ecobank Capital joins a growing number of financial services institutions in Kenya which are moving into investment banking to complement their commercial banking services, and comes along with the recent announcement by Ecobank Group of its plan to inject Sh8.8 billion ($100 million) over the next two years into its Kenyan subsidiary Ecobank Kenya Limited to strengthen its position as hub for the Group’s East Africa regional operations.

Speaking when he announced the CMA licensing, Mr Ehouman Kassi, Managing Director of Ecobank Kenya and head of Ecobank’s East Africa regional cluster, said “increased corporate activities in the East Africa and SADC regions have created a vibrant environment for investment banking”.

Mr. Moyo Kamgaing, Managing Director of Ecobank Capital, said that EBI Investment Corporation Kenya Limited’s business activities will encompass equity & debt capital markets, structured trade and commodity finance, project finance, and corporate advisory targeting East Africa’s oil & gas, infrastructure (power, ports, roads, airports and telecommunications), commodities and FMCG sectors.

In the past two years, Ecobank Capital has arranged over USD 4 billion in financing for private and public sector clients across 12 African countries.