Equity Bank Group

Foundation and early years

EGHL was founded in Kenya as the Equity Building Society (EBS) in October 1984. EBS was originally a provider of mortgage financing for customers in the low-income population. Due to its rural banking orientation, the promotion of agribusiness became a significant and strategic intervention by the bank. By September 2015, Equity Bank had more than 9.2 million customers. The Banker listed Equity Bank among the Top 1,000 Banks in the World with the highest return on assets in the African continent, generating a rate of 6.84 percent on assets deployed.

Corporate restructuring

Prior to November 2014, Equity Bank was both a licensed bank and a holding company for its subsidiaries. On 31 October 2014, Equity Bank Group announced its intention to incorporate a new wholly owned subsidiary, Equity Bank Kenya Limited, to which it would transfer its Kenyan banking business, assets and liabilities. The rationale for the re-organization was that by converting Equity Bank into a non-trading holding company that owns both banking and non-banking subsidiary companies and provides strategic, brand, risk and talent management to its subsidiaries, the Group would be better placed to invest in and develop existing and new businesses as part of its third phase of growth and transformation. These resolutions were adopted during an extraordinary shareholders general meeting held on 24 November 2014, leading to the formation of Equity Bank Kenya Limited.

Regional expansion

In September 2015, the group completed its acquisition of 79 percent of DR Congo-based ProCredit Bank Congo SARL from Procredit Group. This acquisition marked the group's entry into sub-Saharan Africa's third most populous country.

In September 2019, Equity Bank Group began talks to acquire a controlling stake in Banque Commerciale du Congo (BCDC), the second-largest commercial bank in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In August 2020, Equity Group Holdings paid US$95 million (approximately KES 10.2 billion) for a 66.5 percent ownership in BCDC.

On 30 December 2020, Equity Group Holdings received regulatory approval from the DRC government to merge Equity Bank Congo (EBC) and the Banque Commerciale du Congo (BCDC) into Equity BCDC. In November 2023, Equity BCDC reported a profit before taxation of KSh11.4 billion ($74 million) for the nine months ending September, making it the most profitable subsidiary of the group. This successful acquisition enabled EGHL to surpass the KSh 1 trillion balance sheet mark, making it the first bank in East and Central Africa to achieve that milestone.

Rwanda expansion

On 14 June 2023, EGH publicly disclosed its entry into a binding term sheet for the acquisition of 91.93% of COGEBANQUE's issued shares from the Government of Rwanda, Rwanda Social Security Board, Sanlam Vie Plc, and Ms. Judith Mugirasoni.

On 3 January 2024, Equity Group Holdings PLC announced the merger of Cogebanque and Equity Bank Rwanda. The amalgamation, which followed the receipt of all corporate and regulatory approvals, marked a significant milestone in the ongoing strategic growth initiatives of EGH.

Rebranding and milestones

In October 2019, the Group rebranded to Equity, eliminating the entity names the various subsidiaries previously carried such as Group, Bank, Insurance, or Investment Bank, thereby unifying the various brands according to the group MD and CEO, James Mwangi. This rebranding occurred as the Group commemorated its 35th anniversary.