Otushabire Tibyangye
19 June 2008
Kenya Commercial Bank, the newest commercial bank in the Ugandan market is to explore the agri-business market. KCB entered the Ugandan market in November 2007 and has already opened three branches in Uganda. Two are located in Kampala.
"Our products are customer demand driven, every product we have on the market is developed to suit the tastes of our customers," the manager Mbarara Branch, Mr Benson Ayieni says.
"We are a people's bank and are targeting agri-business although we have the capacity to handle all business needs of the people in the region," the group chairman, Mr Peter Muthoka said on June 11. The bank boasts of 100 years of banking experience.
Mr Ayieni said some of the ventures include floriculture, cattle rearing, tea growing, matooke growing and production, milk production like zero grazing and cooperative societies. He said agricultural intervention has been successful in Kenya and he hopes Uganda would take a similar lead.
Mbarara region hopes to serve the Ankore and Kigezi regions that comprise 10 districts which are rich in the production of coffee, tea, bananas, beef cattle, milk cattle, maize production and beans among others.
"We have helped tea farmers in Kenya and the scheme has become successful," Mr Ayieni said. "We want to see it work in this part of the country."
At the opening ceremony, the State Minister for Urban Development, Mr Urban Tibamanya, commended KCB for taking advantage of the existing market gap in business and pledged total support from the government. He said the government supports public/private sectors and leads economic intervention.
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