- JPMorgan Chase has been granted a license to operate in Kenya and plans to expand in Africa.
- The company's CEO, Jamie Dimon, will be visiting Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa to establish a presence.
- The bank's operations in Kenya and Ivory Coast will focus on commercial and investment services.
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Very recently it was reported that JPMorgan Chase, an American international financial firm, was granted a license to operate in Kenya. This is part of the company’s plan to expand its footprint on the African continent. To this effect, the US lender also has plans to establish a presence in the West African country of Ivory Coast.
JPMorgan Chase which boasts $4.3 trillion in assets, currently operates in 100 countries, very few of which are African.
As a result, the company’s CEO, Jamie Dimon disclosed to Reuters in New York via a phone call that he would be leaving for Africa soon.
He is set to visit Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa during his visit.
“We want to add a country or two (enter or deepen presence) in Africa, every couple of years or so,” he stated.
"This will allow us to be on the ground in these countries which gives you a lot more local knowledge and relationships.
And when you do it, you basically will cover the government, maybe some big government enterprises and the multinationals that are going in there with traditional banking services," he added."
The CEO noted that the bank's operations in Kenya and Ivory Coast once established would be centered around commercial banking and investment services with the likelihood of lending being thrown into the mix.
He noted that the organization had no imminent intentions to provide asset and wealth management (AWM) services in those two markets; which by the way are offered in Nigeria and South Africa.
"We are not doing AWM now but that doesn't mean it won't happen in the next few years," he said.
In the past, "the U.S. government was not very keen on banks expanding into different geographies, as this was just after the financial crisis," he added, lauding the US’s decision to become more supportive of global expansion.
JPMorgan Chase’s license in Kenya
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), on Monday, relayed via a statement that it had given JPMorgan Chase approval to build a representative office within Kenya.
“The JPMorgan Chase bank representative office Kenya will contribute to the diversity of Kenya’s financial sector and catalyze trade and investment,” the statement read.
“Additionally, the authorization of the Representative Office affirms Kenya’s standing as a premier financial service hub,” it added.
English (US) ·