NCBA Group is readying to extend its M-Shwari services to 3 more African countries in a bid to affirm its dominance as a leading regional digital lender.
The Bank is in talks with banks and telcos from Ghana, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to partner with making the new initiative a success.
NCBA Group chief executive officer John Gachora said the move will add the total number of countries it offers lending services to eight, although he did not divulge the telcos being targetted.
Read: NCBA Worst Hit Lender By CBK’s Credit Framework
“In new markets, the model will be to work with local banking and mobile partners to deliver our products,” said Gachora.
“The countries of interest, for now, remain Ghana, Ethiopia and DRC – these added to our current five would make it eight countries.”
However, Ethiopia and DRC present NCBA with a unique market as the existing lenders in the country have not capitalized on technology in offering services across the social spectrum but rather focused more on big borrowers.
With the entry of Safaricom into Ethiopia recently, the telecommunication giant that NCBA partnered with in 2012 to birth M-Shwari, the bank anticipates to take advantage of the move to reach the less flooded yet highly populous market.
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NCBA currently holds subsidiaries in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and the Ivory Coast, and the three additional countries will be a big boost to the group.
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