Kenyan bank KCB ready to invest in Ethiopia as the country opens

KCB Group, Kenya's largest bank by its badets, will consider a partnership with a local bank in Ethiopia, where potential liberalization of foreign investment rules could open a market of 100 million people .

opened an office in Addis Ababa three years ago to be ready on the market when opportunities arise, said Executive Director Joshua Oigara in an interview. Oigara said that if the Ethiopian economy is liberalized under the new leadership of the country and foreign banks are allowed to invest, KCB would consider a partnership with an Ethiopian. bank. Alternatively, he said, the bank could establish a standalone business.

We believe with the changes we see, the peace initiatives, that there will be very exciting opportunities for us.

"We believe with the changes we see, the peace initiatives, that there will be very exciting opportunities for us," he said, adding that Ethiopia could be the prospect of # 39; most exciting expansion for companies like KCB in the sub-Saharan region of 1 billion people. Since the arrival in power of Addis Ababa, 27 years ago, the government kept the hand of the government in sectors such as banks and telecoms.

Ethiopia appoints a new central bank governor

it shakes politics and potentially the economy also by emphasizing the need to attract investment.

The Ethiopian government's decision last month to sell stakes in its lucrative monopoly of telecommunications and other badets h It also hopes that the state could also relax its grip on other sectors in which foreign companies are eager to enter.

Among those waiting behind the scenes is KCB one of only two African banks

The peace agreement with Eritrea "could open the region "

Oigara also commented on the impact of the rapid rapprochement between Ethiopia and Eritrea that has taken place over the past five days.

The rapid changes follow the peace initiative of Abiy Ahmed last month. He visited the Eritrean capital last weekend and signed a pact with President Isaias Afwerki on resuming relations, a decision that ended a nearly 20-year war after a border war.

Oigara the result of this peace initiative and other reforms pushed by Abiy could make the region unstable a new economic power.

REUTERS