NCBA Bank has opened its new branch in Busia County. This is part of the bank’s strategic plan to expand its retail business aimed at taking services closer to its customers. The Busia branch brings to 7 the total number of NBCA bank branches opened this year and 85 countrywide.
Speaking at the event, Group Executive Director, David Abwoga said the move to open the branch was necessitated by the fact that there are great opportunities for trade and investment presented by the County, being an agricultural and cross trader hub.
“The branch network enhances our ability to meet corporate and retail client needs by offering greater convenience of access and build trust, as clients still rate access to a nearby branch as critical in selecting their bank of choice. We continue focusing on improving productivity and client experience through the digitization of branch services to drive cost efficiencies and simplify processes. The strategy going forward is to convert branches into service centers for SMEs and corporate customers,” said Abwoga.
He also added that the County and the larger Western region has become a key location for many providers of financial services because of many small and medium-scale enterprises as well as agri-businesses. NCBA already has 7 branches in this region, and it seeks to offer customers in Busia a range of new credit products which are aimed at improving agricultural production and other economic activities here.
Being the leading asset financing and digital business bank, with a market share of more than 35 percent in asset finance, NCBA has already disbursed close to Ksh. 50 million worth of loans to its Busia customers and close to Ksh. 100 million more approved for disbursement.
“This is a very rich agricultural hub, there are a lot of small businesses here and we believe we have the right products to partner with the citizens, business people, and individuals in Busia to be able to improve their livelihood through availing affordable credit to the, availing products that resonate with their businesses,” said Abwoga.
Busia governor H.E Dr. Paul Nyongesa Otuoma, who officially opened the branch, lauded the move by NCBA saying this was a demonstration of the confidence that investors have in Busia County.
“During my campaigns, I committed to support Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) the mama mboga, boda boda, industry among others. Our partnership with financial institutions will help us achieve this vision through friendly business loans.” Said Governor Otuoma.
He also added that the new branch will help to make NCBA Bank a strategic partner in the economic growth and development of Busia County and help elevate the overall economic development in the region.
“Through this branch, we will create employment opportunities for our constituents. This is of key importance to us as the creation of adequate, productive and sustainable employment continues to be the greatest economic challenge for Busia. The County has an unemployment rate of over 66.7%. Our plan is to significantly reduce this number and we welcome partners like you to help us achieve this key milestone.”
NCBA Group director of retail trade Tirus Mwithiga says the branch will shorten the long journey that its customers in Busia have been having to the nearest branch in Kisumu to seek the bank’s services.
The bank also revealed its plan to have financial literacy trainings in Busia County as part of nurturing savings culture to its customers. Already NCBA has a Money Mastery program in which they teach youth how to spend wisely.
So far NCBA Bank has a total of 7 branches in western Kenya. The Group intends to continue scaling up its branch network in 2022 by opening 11 new branches by the end of year, bringing its services closer to customers.
