Kenyan banking group NCBA looking to expand its operations in the West African market, Bloomberg reported citing NCBA Group CEO John Gachora.

The lender is holding talks with an unknown Ghana-based bank for its expansion plans.

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In an interview, Gachora said: “We are actually looking into having something this year. We are working with a local bank, and hopefully, we should be launching something there soon.”

Notably, the Kenya-based bank already has operations in Ivory Coast.  

It operates in Ivory Coast in partnership with a local unit of MTN Group and offers services including savings and mobile microloans, Gachora said adding that NCBA operates subsidiaries in Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda as well.

NCBA is also looking to foray into Nigeria, but tough completion and regulatory hurdles are a cause of concern.

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Gachora noted that Nigeria “has been a fintech Savannah for quite some time, so whereas we have talked to a lot of partners there, we think it is a very competitive market and you need to have deep pockets before you go into Nigeria.”

Gachora added that the lender is also looking for business opportunities in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia when it opens for foreign players.

NCBA plans to start by offering its mobile banking channels in the new markets.

Its offerings include borrowing and savings products called Mshwari and Fuliza, which is an overdraft lending product.

NCBA, which was formed after the merger of NIC Group (NIC) and Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA), is said to have doubled its net income to $89m during the 12 months that ended on 31 December 2021.