# Gulf African Bank

Gulf African Bank (GAB), whose full name is Gulf African Bank Limited, is a commercial bank in Kenya operating under an Islamic banking regime. It is licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya, the central bank and national banking regulator.
As of December 2014 the bank was a mid-sized financial services provider in Kenya. Its total assets were valued at approximately US$191.8 million (KES:19, 753, 647 billion), with customer deposits totalling approximately US$153.3 million (KES:15.8 billion), and shareholders' equity estimated at US$30.6 million (KES:3.15 billion). At that time, the bank was ranked number 25, by assets, out of the 43 licensed banks in Kenya then. The bank has plans to enter Uganda and Tanzania.

## History

Discussions to establish the bank started in 2005, by individuals and institutions from the Persian Gulf and Kenya. The bank began banking operations in 2008, after receiving a commercial banking license and authorisation to establish a Sharia bank, from the Central Bank of Kenya. Gulf African Bank is the second commercial bank in Kenya to receive authorisation to practice Sharia banking, after First Community Bank, which opened in 2007. At the time it opened, Gulf African Bank's capital base totalled over US$21 million (KES:1.75 billion).

## Ownership

The shares of stock in Gulf African Bank are privately held by institutional and private investors from the Persian Gulf, Kenya and the United States of America. Institutional investors account for over 90% shareholding. The major shareholders in the bank include the investors listed in the table below. In September 2012, the International Finance Corporation acquired 16% shareholding in the bank for US$5 million. It is not clear how the shareholding will look after the money changes hands.
Gulf African Bank Stock Ownership :
| Rank | Name of Owner | Percentage Ownership |
| 1 | Istithmar PJS of United Arab Emirates – A Private Equity Firm | 32.0 |
| 2 | BMI Bank of Bahrain | 21.3 |
| 3 | Sheikh Abdallah Mohammed Al Romaizan of Saudi Arabia – An Individual | 21.3 |
| 4 | GulfCap Group of United Arab Emirates – A Private Investment Company | 10.3 |
| 5 | PTA Bank of Eastern and Southern Africa – A Multinational Development Bank | 5.3 |
| 6 | International Finance Corporation (IFC), An affiliate of the World Bank | 16.0 |
| 7 | Other Individual Investors from Kenya and the Persian Gulf | 9.8 |
| | Total | 100.00 |
* The totals are off because shareholding data after IFC investment is lacking.

## Branch network

As of August 2014, the bank operates a network of branches at the following locations:
* Head Office – Geminia Insurance Plaza, Kilimanjaro Avenue, Nairobi
* Lamu Branch – Old Telkom Office, Jomo Kenyatta Road, Lamu
* Kenyatta Avenue Branch – Ground Floor, Hughes Building, Kenyatta Avenue, Nairobi
* Eastleigh Branch II – Shariff Centre Building, Jam Street, Eastleigh, Nairobi
* Bombolulu Branch – Madina Estate, New Mombasa-Malindi Highway, Bombolulu, Mombasa
* Westlands Branch – 9 West Building, Westlands, Nairobi]
* Enterprise Branch – Addis Ababa Road, Off Enterprise Road, Nairobi
* Upper Hill Branch – Ground Floor, Geminia Ins. Plaza, Kilimanjaro Ave., Upper Hill, Nairobi
* Jomo Kenyatta Branch – Kasa Building, Jomo Kenyatta Avenue, Mombasa
* Malindi Branch – Blue Marlin Building, Lamu Road, Malindi
* Garissa Branch – First House, Al-Waqf Quran House, Kismayu Road, Garissa
* Nkrumah Road Branch – Najat House, Nkrumah Road, Mombasa
* Eastleigh Main Branch – Eastleigh Mall Building, General Wariunge Street, Eastleigh, Nairobi
* Bondeni Branch – Abdel Nasser Road, Bondeni, Mombasa