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| KCB Group managing director Kenya, Annastacia Kimtai and governor of the Central Bank of Kenya Kamau Thugge. |
The Central Bank of Kenya has released the bank supervision annual report for 2023, which highlights the state of the country’s banking sector. KCB Group managing director Kenya, Annastacia Kimtai and governor of the Central Bank of Kenya Kamau Thugge. According to the report, the banking sector remained stable and resilient in 2023, characterized by sufficient capital and liquidity buffers. The total capital adequacy ratio stood at 18.6% in December 2023, above the minimum adequacy ratio of 14.5%, whereas the liquidity stood above the minimum statutory level of 20% at an average of 51.0% in the same period. As of December 31, 2023, the Kenyan banking sector included the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) as the regulatory authority and 38 commercial banks. Among the 39 banking institutions, 37 were privately owned, while the Government of Kenya held majority ownership in 2 institutions. Of the 37 privately owned banks, 20 were locally owned with controlling shareholders domiciled in Kenya, including 19 commercial banks and 1 mortgage finance company. The 17 foreign-owned institutions were all commercial banks, consisting of 14 local subsidiaries of foreign banks and 3 branches of foreign banks. The list below shows the most profitable banks in 2023 based on the profits they made before taxes. KCB Bank Kenya Ltd: KSh 33.25 billion Co-operative Bank of Kenya Ltd: KSh 29.62 billion Equity Bank Kenya Ltd: KSh 25.19 billion Absa Bank Kenya Plc: KSh 22.26 billion NCBA Bank Kenya PLC: KSh 21.70 billion Standard Chartered Bank Kenya Ltd: KSh 19.37 billion Stanbic Bank Kenya Ltd: KSh 16.74 billion Citibank N.A. Kenya: KSh 14.12 billion I&M Bank Ltd: KSh 12.08 billion Bank of Baroda (Kenya) Limited: KSh 7.29 billion
by Elijah Ntongai