Somali lender set to enter Kenya with FCB acquisition 

Somalia’s Premier Bank Ltd is set to make an entry into Kenya’s banking sector with acquisition of majority stake in First Community Bank.

The Competition Authority of Kenya has given the Somali lender incorporated a decade ago a heads up to take up 62.5 percent in the Kenyan bank that came under liquidity pressure last year after a bank run that saw it place curbs on withdrawal.

The tier three lender with 0.38 percent market share that ranks 27 among Kenya’s 39 placed limits on cheque clearance and withdrawals following an advisory from the banking sector regulator.

First Community Bank is owned by 28 individual shareholders led by Ameir Munif Abdallah Nahdi and Said Edha Abdallah Nahdi who own 16.4 percent each along one corporate owner.