KCB will be cross-listed in Rwanda in the first two weeks of June if the CMAC board endorses the application

As Rwandan companies shy away from equity trading on the Kigali bourse, Nairobi-basedKenya Commercial Bank (KCB) group, is ready to take the lead.

The group’s officials made a formal application to the Capital Market Advisory Council (CMAC) seeking a go-ahead to cross list the bank’s shares on the Rwanda Over-the-Counter (ROTC) market in the next few weeks. The application still awits approval from the CMAC board.

If approved, KCB will become the first company to have its shares traded on the Rwandan bourse. It will also make KCB the first company to list on the four stock exchanges within East Africa.

"We have actually come to make an application today. We are not cross listing today,” Samuel Kimani, KCB’s Deputy CEO-Group Controls, told The Business Times, shortly after a meeting with CMAC officials at the capital markets offices.

He said that KCB group has issued two billion shares on the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) and those shares will be available on the ROTC market, giving chance to Rwandan investors to become shareholders in one of East Africa’s largest banks.

With this cross listing  it means the bank is not raising capital, but instead allowing Rwandan nationals to buy its shares from existing shareholders without necessarily going to Kenya, Uganda or Tanzania.

According to CMAC, KCB will be cross listed in Rwanda in the first two weeks of June if the CMAC board endorses the application.

"They want it done on June 18, 2009 but the CMAC board has to first analyse and approve the application,” said Robert Mathu, Executive Director CMAC.

The move is very vital to the growth of Rwanda’s stock market which has only bonds listed on it. It is also important for the development of the country’s financial sector and economy at large.

"The capital market is one of the avenues through which people who want to invest and raise funds can do it,” Mathu said. He added that KCB listing will pave the way for Rwandan companies to list equities as well as enhancing public awareness about financial products.

According to Kimani, KCB share has a par value of one Kenyan shilling (Rwf7.4) and last year the group declared one shilling dividend for that one per value share. 

KCB share is currently trading at Ksh20 (Rwf145) per share.

"From an investor perspective I think this is the best time to invest because you would get these shares at a discount,” he added.

KCB operates in Kenya, Southern Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda. 

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