Kenyan banks are seeing increasing profits from regional markets like Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, DRC Congo, Rwanda, Mauritius, and South Sudan.
Among these, the Tanzanian market stands out as one of the best-performing regions for Kenyan bank subsidiaries.
Recently, the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) reported that Kenyan bank subsidiaries in the region saw a remarkable 74.7% increase in pre-tax earnings.
These subsidiaries have reported impressive earnings, with a total of 76 branches across Tanzania. This includes KCB Bank Tanzania, Equity Bank Tanzania, DTB Tanzania, NCBA Tanzania, and I&M Tanzania.
The banks’ revenue surged to Sh. 4.3 billion (TSh. 91.4 billion) during the review period, up from Sh. 2.48 billion (TSh. 52.3 billion) in the previous year.
The revenue increase for these Kenyan banks is due to falling prices and better-quality assets in Tanzania.
By May, Tanzania’s inflation rate was at 3.1%, and nonperforming loans were at 4.4%, which is below the 5% level considered acceptable by the Bank of Tanzania.
Contrastingly, Kenya’s nonperforming loans ratio is 15% due to increasing loan defaults.
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KCB Bank Tanzania led the way in profitability among Kenyan banks. Here are the earnings reported by the top-performing banks for the first half of 2024:
| Rank | Bank | Pre-tax profit earnings |
| 1 | KCB Bank Tanzania | Sh. 1.83 billion (Tsh. 38.7B) |
| 2 | DTB Tanzania | Sh. 1.19 billion (Tsh. 25.2B) |
| 3 | Equity Bank | Sh. 665 million (Tsh. 14.01B) |
| 4 | I&M Bank | Sh. 346 million (Tsh. 7.3B) |
| 5 | NCBA Bank | Sh. 292 million (Tsh. 6.15B) |