Kenyan businessman and banker Andrew Ndegwa’s stake in NCBA Group has seen a significant increase in market value in the past month helped by the recent surge in the share price of the Nairobi-based lender.
NCBA’s share price on the Nairobi Securities Exchange grew by 17.22 percent over the past month, climbing from Ksh36.30 ($0.271) on February 16 to Ksh42.55 ($0.317) as of March 18.
The increase has been attributed to a high demand from investors for share acquisition, which saw the lender’s share price record a double-digit increase.
As a result, Ndegwa’s holding at NCBA increased by Ksh477.1 million ($3.56 million) during the review period, climbing from Ksh2.77 billion ($20.67 million) to Ksh3.25 billion ($24.23 million).
NCBA Group, an East African financial services conglomerate headquartered in Nairobi, is expanding its influence throughout the area.
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In addition to Kenya, the lender, which was formed by the merger between the listed NIC Bank and the private CBA Group in 2019, also has activities in other African countries, including Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, and Cote d’Ivoire.
Andrew Ndegwa, a director on the board of NCBA Group, is among the company’s largest shareholders, with a commanding 4.63-percent stake equivalent to 76,336,855 ordinary shares.
His investment portfolio is rooted in his father, the late Philip Ndegwa, who was the third Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) governor, and who created one of Kenya’s single largest business empires.
His vast estate spanned around banking, agriculture, logistics, and real estate and was passed to his sons Andrew and James. Ndegwa founded First Chartered Securities in 1974 with 20 other shareholders.
The firm had a stake of a 25 per cent in NIC Bank, where his two sons James –the NCBA chairman – and Andrew, were the biggest shareholders and officials.
The duo split half of their family’s 25 per cent stake in the then NIC Bank that was worth Sh. 5 billion. Andrew’s 6.5 per cent stake at NIC was said to be worth Sh. 1.1 billion before the merger with CBA.
Andrew holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University.
