Nairobi — Equity Bank has started recruiting key staff to spearhead its expansion to Southern Sudan, a month after it announced that it had secured the necessary approvals to start operating.

In a paid up advertisement appearing in the press on Friday, the microfinance institution called on qualified persons to apply for various positions in its newest frontier.

"In line with our regional expansion, the bank is in the process of establishing its presence in Southern Sudan.

"We therefore seek to recruit highly qualified and experienced individuals to fill the following positions," read the advertisement.

Successful applicants will, among others, work as branch managers or business growth and development managers, operations managers, finance manager, credit managers and clerks.

Dr James Mwangi, the bank's chief executive, announced in late September that the institution plans to open six branches in Southern Sudan by the end of this year after receiving the nod from the Central Bank of Kenya and the Bank of Sudan to start operating.

The branches will be located in six towns -- the provincial capital, Juba, Malakal, Yambyo, Wau, Kaya and Nimule -in the country that is slowly recovering from a 21-year long civil war following the signing a Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005.

"We will open up with six branches all over South Sudan but we are confronted with developing premises because that seems to be the challenge everyone is confronted with in southern Sudan," Dr Mwangi had told the press in Nairobi.

The Nairobi Stock Exchange listed bank, which joins another Kenyan bank-KCB Group- in Southern Sudan, kicked off its regional expansion by acquiring the Uganda Microfinance Limited (UML) in May this year.