# Equity Group

Equity Group Holdings Limited (EGHL), formerly Equity Bank Group, is a financial services holding company based in the African Great Lakes region. EGHL's headquarters are in Nairobi, Kenya, with subsidiaries in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo and a representative office in Ethiopia.

## Overview

EGHL is the largest financial services conglomerate in East and Central Africa. As of March 2024, it had assets exceeding KSh1.70 trillion (US$13 billion). The group also has over 20 million customers [source] in seven African Great Lake countries, with KSh1.32 trillion (US$10 billion) in deposits.
In March 2024, EGHL was named 2nd Strongest Bank Brand in the world. Equity climbed two places to 2nd position in the World’s Top 10 Strongest Banking Brands. This was its third consecutive appearance in the Brand Finance Banking 500 rankings with an impressive Brand Strength Inde (BSI) score of 92.5 out of 100 and an elite AAA+ brand strength rating, according to The Brand Finance.
On 28 August 2024 and for the second year in a row, Equity Bank was recognized as Africa’s best bank for corporate responsibility at the 2024 Euromoney Awards for Excellence. Equity also won the Best Bank for Corporate Responsibility in Africa (Second consecutive year), Best Bank for Corporate Responsibility in Kenya (Second consecutive year), Best Bank for SMEs in Kenya (Second consecutive year) and Overall Best Bank in Kenya (Second consecutive year).
EGHL has exclusive rights to issue American Express credit cards across the African continent outside South Africa. As of the Quarter 3 Financial results ending 2024 September, EGHL reported an asset base worth Ksh1.70 trillion ($13 billion). The total group of customers was 21 million, with Ksh1.32 trillion ($10 billion) in deposits.
In 2023, over 98% of EGHL transactions were done outside branches; with 85.9% via digital channel and 7.9% via agency. Finserve acquired 501,000 and 588,000 new Equitel subscribers in 2023 and 2022 respectively. The total Equitel subscribers as at December 2023 was 2.21 million subscribers.
In 2024, 85.9% of the Group's transactions by count were done via its digital platforms which represented over 57% of total value of transactions conducted by the group's customers.[ As of August 2024, EGHL total assets were valued at KSh1.70 trillion (US$13 billion), with shareholders' funds valued at US$1,096,000,000 (KSh121,279,000,000).
Equity Groups 1st Insurance subsidiary was operationalised in March 2022 to undertake life insurance business. As of March 2023, and in just 1 year of operation, Equity Life Assurance (Kenya) [ELAK] has risen to the 4th position in the industry in Gross Written Premiums with 9% market share and number 2 position in Group Credit Business with an 18% market share, position 4 on profitability and position 7 in size in terms of total asset and provided the highest in Return on Equity as at 30 September 2024. As of 30 September 2024, 13.2 million policies had been issued with 5.8 million unique customers consuming various insurance products, moreover, +80% of policies had been issued digitally.[SOURCE]. In 2023, Equity Life Assurance (Kenya) Ltd (ELAK) was recognized as the Best Insurance in sustainable CSR during the 2023 edition of Think Business Insurance Awards. Equity Life Assurance Kenya scooped 3 awards: Winner in the Best Insurance in Sustainable CSR, 1st Runners Up in Most Customer Centric Underwriter Life & 2nd Runners up in the Life Insurer of the Year.
Equity Afia was launched in 2015 and is a subsidiary of Equity Group Holdings Limited, dedicated to providing high-quality healthcare services. Services encompass a wide range of medical care, including primary care, specialist consultations, laboratory tests, imaging, vaccinations, health screenings, and wellness programs. Equity Afia is an initiative under the Equity Group Foundation that uses a franchising model to fund, train and monitor a network of medical entrepreneurs, who are qualified alumni of the Equity Leaders Program (ELP). The clinics are run independently by the medical professionals with Equity Group providing support to doctors who wish to set up/run these facilities.
As of September 2024, Equity Afia had 128 clinics in Kenya with 2.92 million cumulative patient visits.

## History

EGHL was founded in Kenya, the largest economy in the East African Community, as the Equity Building Society in October 1984. It was originally a provider of mortgage financing for customers in the low income population. Also, due to its rural banking orientation, promotion of agribusiness is 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 per cent on assets deployed.
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-organisation is 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 will be better placed to invest and to develop the existing and new businesses as part of its third phase of growth and transformation. These resolutions were all adopted during an extraordinary shareholders general meeting held on 24 November 2014 leading to the formation of Equity Bank Kenya Limited.
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.[24] In August 2020, Equity Group Holdings paid US$95 million (approx. 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, data from EGHL reported that in nine months ending September, Equity BCDC made a Ksh11.4 billion ($74 million) profit before taxation making it the most profitable subsidiary of the group. This successful acquisition made EGHL surpass the KSh 1 Trillion balance sheet mark making it the first bank in East and Central Africa to achieve that.
In October 2019, The Group rebranded to Equity thereby eliminating the entity names the various subsidiaries previously carried like Group, Bank, Insurance, or Investment Bank thereby unifying the various brands according to the group MD and CEO, James Mwangi. This happened as the Group commemorated its 35th anniversary.
On 30th 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 August 2021, data from EGHL reported that in six months ending June, Equity BCDC made a Ksh700 million ($6.37 million) profit before taxation making it the most profitable subsidiary of the group. This successful acquisition made EGHL surpass the Kshs 1 Trillion balance sheet mark making it the first bank in East and Central Africa to achieve that.
In August 2021, EGHL became the second most capitalized corporate entity at the Nairobi stock Exchange after hitting Ksh 200 Billion market capitalization mark.
On June 14, 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 (the Sellers).
On 3 January 2024: Equity Group Holdings PLC (EGH) 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.

## Ownership

The stock of Equity Group Holdings Limited is traded on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, under the symbol: EQTY. On Thursday 18 June 2009, the Group's stock cross-listed on the Uganda Securities Exchange and started trading that day, under the symbol: EBL. As of March 2023, shareholding in the group's stock was as depicted in the table below;
Equity Group Holdings Limited Stock Ownership :
| Rank | Name of Owner | Percentage Ownership |
| 1. | Arise BV of Norway and Netherlands | 12.76 |
| 2. | Standard Chartered Nominees Non Resd A/C Ke11752 | 4.35 |
| 3 | Stanbic Nominees LTD A/C NR3530153 | 3.98 |
| 4 | James Njuguna Mwangi | 3.38 |
| 5. | Equity Bank Employees' Share Ownership Plan | 3.08 |
| 6. | Standard Chartered Kenya Nominees Ltd A/C KE004667 | 2.89 |
| 7. | Fortress Highlands Limited | 2.67 |
| 8. | Aib Nominee A/C Solidus Holdings Ltd | 2.38 |
| 9. | Standard Chartered Kenya Nominees Ltd A/C KE005073 | 2.34 |
| 10. | Standard Chartered Kenya Nominees Ltd A/C KE002596 | 1.95 |
| 11. | Other Shareholders | 60.15 |
| | Total | 100.00 |

## Board of directors

The following are the board members of Equity Group Holdings Limited, as of September 2024.
* Prof. Isaac Macharia, Chairman
* James Mwangi, CBS, Group Managing Director & CEO
* Samwel Kirubi - Executive Director
* Dr. Edward Odundo - Non-executive Director
* Dr. Evans Baiya - Non-executive Director
* Vijay Gidoomal - Non-executive Director
* Dr. Helen Gichohi - Non-executive Director
* Jonas Mushosho - Non-executive Director
* Lydia Ndirangu - Group company Secretary
* Samwel Mwale – Non-executive director
* Clifford Sacks – Non-executive director

## Member companies

The companies that compose the Equity Group Holdings Limited include but are not limited to the following:
* Equity Bank Kenya Limited – Nairobi, Kenya – 100% Shareholding – A commercial bank in Kenya, serving individuals and businesses.
* Equity Bank Rwanda Limited – Kigali, Rwanda – 100% Shareholding – A commercial bank in Rwanda, serving both individuals and businesses.
* Equity Bank South Sudan Limited – Juba, South Sudan – 100% Shareholding – A commercial bank in South Sudan.
* Equity Bank Tanzania Limited – Dar es Salaam, Tanzania – 100% Shareholding – A commercial bank in Tanzania.
* Equity Bank Uganda Limited – Kampala, Uganda – 100% Shareholding – A commercial bank in Uganda.
* Equity BCDC – Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo : 77.5 percent Shareholding – A commercial bank in DR Congo.
* Equity Consulting Group Limited – Nairobi, Kenya
* Equity Insurance Agency Limited – Nairobi, Kenya – 100% Shareholding – The insurance agency arm of the group. Offering bancassurance services to customers
* Equity Nominees Limited – Nairobi, Kenya – 100% Shareholding – A Nominee company. Holding investments on behalf of customers.
* Equity Investment Bank Limited – Nairobi, Kenya – 100% Shareholding – An investment bank in Kenya. A member of the Nairobi Securities Exchange and licensed by the Capital Markets Authority.
* Finserve Africa Limited – Nairobi, Kenya – 100% Shareholding – A mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) in the Kenya.
* Equity Group Foundation – Nairobi, Kenya – 100% Shareholding – The philanthropy and corporate social responsibility arm of the group.
* Azenia - Nairobi, Kenya—100% Shareholding – A technological affiliate for developing digital solutions to the group.