National Bank of Kenya

Commercial bank in Kenya

National Bank of Kenya

Company type| Private: Subsidiary of Access Bank plc
Industry| Financial services
Founded| 1968; 57 years ago (1968)
Headquarters| Nairobi, Kenya

Key people

| George Odhiambo
(managing director)
Products| Loans, savings, checking, investments, debit cards, credit cards
Revenue|  Aftertax:US$1,521,950 (KES:156,139,000) (2018)[1]
Total assets| US$1.122 billion (KES:115.143 billion) (2018)[1]

Number of employees

| 1,356 (2018)[2]
Website| nationalbank.co.ke

National Bank of Kenya (NBK), also known as National Bank, is a commercial bank in Kenya, the largest economy in the East African Community. It is licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya, the central bank, and national banking regulator.[3] Effective September 2019, the bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Access Bank Plc.[4]

## Overview

[edit]

NBK is a large financial services provider in Kenya, serving individuals, small-to-medium companies and businesses (SMEs) and large corporations. Headquartered in Nairobi, the bank owns one subsidiary company: NatBank Trustee and Investment Services Limited. As of December 2018[update], National Bank of Kenya's asset base was valued at approximately US$1.122 billion (KES:115.143 billion), with shareholders' equity valued at about US$67.6 million (KES:6.936 billion).[1] Following the acquisition of the shares of NBK by KCB Group in September 2019, the shares of NBK were de-listed from the Nairobi Securities Exchange on 16 September 2019.[5]

## History

[edit]

The bank was established in 1968 as a 100 percent government-owned financial institution. In 1994, the Kenyan Government reduced its shareholding to 68 percent by selling 32 percent shareholding to the public. The government further divested from NBK over the years, until its present shareholding of 22.5 percent, as of April 2019.[6] Following 12 years of poor financial performance, the bank became profitable again in 2010, paying out an annual dividend ever since.[7]

In April 2019, KCB Bank Kenya Limited, the largest commercial bank in the country by assets, announced its intention to acquire 100 percent of the assets and liabilities of National Bank of Kenya, pending shareholder and regulatory approvals.[6] That acquisition was concluded on 16 September 2019.[5]

## Subsidiaries

[edit]

The bank owns the following subsidiary companies in which it has 100% shareholding:

* Natbank Trustee[8] and Investment Services Limited: Nairobi,
* Kenya National Capital Corporation Limited: Nairobi,
* NBK Insurance Agency Limited:[9] Nairobi,

## Ownership

[edit]

As of October 2019[update], the stock of National Bank of Kenya is owned by the Kenya Commercial Bank Group, a large financial conglomerate, with subsidiaries in seven Eastern African countries and total assets of over $7.013 billion, as of October 2019.[10]

At the time of acquisition of NBK, KCB Group stated that it intended to run NBK as a stand-alone subsidiary, for a period of at least two years, after which NBK would be integrated with KCB Bank Kenya Limited.[11]

On March 20, 2024, it was announced that Access Bank Plc, a Nigerian commercial bank, had entered into an agreement to acquire NBK, subject to receipt of approvals from the Central Bank of Kenya and the Central Bank of Nigeria.[12] The acquisition process by Access Bank Group was concluded on 30 May 2025.[13]

## Governance

[edit]

As of March 2024, the following were the board members:[14]

* Jones Makau Nzomo: non-executive director
* Paul Russo: KCB Group CEO & managing director
* Lina Githuka: non-executive director
* Laban Omangi: non-executive director
* Geoffrey Malombe: non-executive director
* George Odhiambo: managing director
* Samuel Mundia: director, legal services

## See also

[edit]

* Banks portal

* Central Bank of Kenya
* Economy of Kenya
* List of banks in Kenya

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c National Bank of Kenya (24 May 2019). "National Bank of Kenya: 2018 Audited Financial Statements As At 31 December 2018" (PDF). Nairobi: National Bank of Kenya. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
2. ^ Juma, Victor (9 June 2019). "National Bank lays off 112 employees". Business Daily Africa. Nairobi. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
3. ^ Central Bank of Kenya (31 December 2011). "Directory of Commercial Banks And Mortgage Finance Companies" (PDF). Central Bank of Kenya. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
4. ^ Victor Amadala (2 September 2019). "CBK Approves National Bank of Kenya Takeover By KCB". The Star (Kenya). Nairobi. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
5. ^ a b Victor Juma (14 July 2019). "KCB To Delist National Bank On State Stake". Business Daily Africa. Nairobi. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
6. ^ a b Anyanzwa, James (18 April 2019). "KCB announces intention to acquire troubled NBK". The East African. Nairobi. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
7. ^ Munda, Constant (28 March 2014). "National Bank of Kenya Shareholders Receive Dividend Raise".  The Star. Nairobi. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
8. ^ Natbank Trustee
9. ^ NBK Insurance Agency Limited
10. ^ The EastAfrican (21 October 2019). "East African Banks Rank Among World's Top Performers". Daily Monitor. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
11. ^ Mike Njoroge (28 August 2019). "KCB Takeover of NBK Enters Final Stretch: NBK To Remain As Subsidiary In KCB Takeover". Nairobi: Business Today Kenya. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
12. ^ Adonijah Ndege (21 March 2024). "Access Bank values NBK at around $100 million as it continues East Africa expansion". TechCabal. Lagos, Nigeria. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
13. ^ ABNK (30 May 2025). "KCB Group And Access Bank Finalise NBK Acquisition". Africa Business News Kenya (ABNK). Nairobi, Kenya. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
14. ^ NBoK (27 March 2024). "National Bank of Kenya: Board of Directors". National Bank of Kenya (NBoK). Nairobi, Kenya. Retrieved 27 March 2024.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website
* Central Bank of Kenya website

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

National|

* United States

Other|

* Yale LUX

* v
* t
* e

Banks of Kenya

Central bank|

* Central Bank of Kenya

Commercial bank|

* Absa Bank
* Access Bank Kenya
* African Banking Corporation
* Bank of Africa
* Bank of Baroda
* Bank of India
* CIB Kenya
* Citibank NA Kenya
* Consolidated Bank of Kenya
* Cooperative Bank of Kenya
* Credit Bank
* Development Bank of Kenya
* Diamond Trust Bank
* East African Development Bank
* Ecobank Kenya
* Equity Bank
* Family Bank
* Guaranty Trust Bank
* Guardian Bank
* Gulf African Bank
* Habib Bank AG Zurich
* Housing Finance Company of Kenya
* I&M Bank
* Kingdom Bank Limited
* Kenya Commercial Bank
* Middle East Bank Kenya
* M-Oriental Bank
* National Bank of Kenya
* NCBA Bank
* Paramount Universal Bank
* Post Bank
* Premier Bank
* Prime bank
* SBM Bank Kenya
* Sidian Bank
* Stanbic Bank
* Standard Chartered Kenya
* United Bank for Africa
* Victoria Commercial Bank

Financial services organization|

* DTB Group
* Equity Group Holdings
* HF Group
* I&M Holdings
* KCB Group
* Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company
* NCBA Group

Foreign banks|

* Bank of China
* Bank of Kigali
* FirstRand
* HDFC Bank
* HSBC
* Nedbank

Defunct banks|

* Chase Bank
* Commercial Bank of Africa (Formerly part of CBA Group)
* Dubai Bank Kenya
* Euro Bank
* Fina Bank
* Giro Commercial Bank
* Habib Bank
* Imperial Bank Limited
* Spire Bank

Microfinance Institutions|

* Choice Microfinance Bank
* Faulu Kenya
* Kenya Women Microfinance Bank
* SMEP Microfinance Bank

SACCOs|

* Imarisha Sacco Society
* Mwalimu National Sacco
* United Nations Sacco Society
* Unaitas

Related Topics|

* Automated Teller Machine (ATM)
* ATM usage fees
* De-Materialisation (DEMAT)
* Financial services
* Foreign Exchange (FOREX)
* National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT)
* Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS)
* Structured Financial Messaging System (SFMS)

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