| {"doc_id": "04baff6c334f939f65c8a5a5e973328b", "text": "CENTRAL BANK OF KENYA\nRemarks by\nPROF. NJUGUNA NDUNG’U\nGOVERNOR\nCENTRAL BANK OF KENYA\nAT THE\nLAUNCH OF THE FIRSTRAND BANK REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE IN\nKENYA\nSerena Hotel\nWednesday, 2nd May 2012\n\nHonourable Njeru Githae, Minister for Finance of the Republic of\nKenya\nMr. Sizwe Nxasana, the Chief Executive Officer, FirstRand Bank\nLimited;\nMr. Lloyd Muposhi, the Chief Representative Officer, FirstRand\nBank Limited Representative Office in Kenya;\nDistinguished Guests;\nLadies and Gentlemen:\nIt is my great pleasure to join you this evening for the official launch of the\nFirstRand Bank Representative Office in Kenya. At the onset, I wish to\nacknowledge the presence of Hon. Njeru Githae, the Minister for Finance of\nthe Republic of Kenya. His presence gives this function the great\nsignificance it deserves. Further, I wish to thank the Chief Executive Officer,\nMr. Sizwe Nxasana, for inviting me to this auspicious occasion. We are glad\nthat the FirstRand Bank Ltd has a physical presence in Kenya.\nLadies and Gentlemen: I am delighted to note that the Kenyan Banking\nsector has continued to attract a lot of interest from international financial\nplayers. To this end, the number of licensed representative offices of top\ninternational banks has steadily grown from one (1) in 2008 to four (4) in\n2011. Moreover a fifth institution was granted an approval in principle on\n5th March 2012 to establish a representative office in Kenya. I therefore\napplaud this interest as it anchors well with Kenya’s Vision 2030 that will\nmake Kenya the premier regional financial services hub. For this reason,\nfinancial development and deepening will be strong outcomes.\nFinancial infrastructure in Kenya can be considered complete.\nBanks; Microfinance Institutions; currency centres; credit reference\nbureaus; agency banking; risk-based supervision are indicators that the\nfinancial infrastructure in Kenya is now in place:- with banks rolling out\nbranch networks across the region supported by initiatives like agency\nbanking and an appropriate information sharing mechanism allows the\nfinancial sector to grow. Then the other arms of Pension, Securities and\nInsurance are moving in the same direction.\nLadies and Gentlemen: It is worth noting that the Kenyan banking\nsector has remained resilient despite the dynamic macro environment it\n2\n\noperates in. This is evidenced by the impressive profit before tax of Ksh.89.3\nbillion (USD1.08 billion) for the year ended December 2011. This was a\n20.4% increase from Ksh.74.3 billion (USD895 million) returned in the\nsame period in 2010. The number of banks is growing to create strong\nbanks: mergers will be required, but that is a market outcome.\nLadies and Gentlemen: I would like to assure the banking sector and\nother market players that the Central Bank will continue to support the\nmarket development by providing an enabling environment for growth in\nthe banking sector. Allow me to outline the thrust of the initiatives we shall\ncontinue to inculcate to ensure the sector operates efficiently, effectively\nand soundly. The initiatives will be anchored on three pillars:-\n First, strengthening Financial Stability, Supervisory and Regulatory\nFramework. In particular, CBK will adopt a consolidated supervision\napproach to take cognisance of the growing pan-African nature of the\nKenyan banking sector.\n Second, enhancing Financial Integrity in the Banking Sector so as to\nensure that the financial systems are safeguarded against money\nlaundering and financing of terrorism.\n Third, promoting Financial Inclusion for financial deepening and\ndevelopment in line with the aspirations under the Kenyan Vision\n2030.\nDistinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen; Finally, allow me once\nagain to applaud FirstRand Bank Limited for establishing a physical\npresence in Kenya through a representative office. As the Central Bank we\nare ready to support you as you develop your business not only in the\nKenyan market but also on the Eastern African side.\nWith these remarks, it is now my pleasure to welcome Honourable Njeru\nGithae, Minister for Finance of the Republic of Kenya to make his remarks\nand officially launch the Representative Office of FirstRand Bank here in\nKenya.\nThank you\n3", "source": "CBK", "stratum": "cb_requests", "fetch_date": "2026-04-26", "url": "https://www.centralbank.go.ke//images/docs/speeches/2012/Governor%27s%20Remarks%20-%20Launch%20of%20FirstRand%20Bank%20Representative%20Office.pdf"} |