Islamic bank opens new branch in CBD in expansion drive

Group CEO DIB Bank Adnan Chilwan, Steve Mainda, Peter and Adan Mohamed. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

Dubai Islamic Bank Kenya (DIB) has opened a branch in Nairobi’s Central Business District (CBD), the lender's sixth branch in Kenya.

DIB, which exclusively offers Sharia-compliant banking, has branches in Nairobi's Upperhill, Westlands and Eastleigh, and Bondeni and Moi Avenue in Mombasa. Chief Executive Peter Makau yesterday said the bank is targeting a huge market that needs Islamic banking services.

“We have been able to tap into that market and given confidence to customers who want to access Sharia-compliant banking services,” he said.

In a ceremony to celebrate four years of existence in Kenya last year, Mr Makau said the bank recorded a 9.25 per cent growth in total assets to close at Sh14.6 billion with financing assets growing by 16 per cent to close at Sh10.2 billion as at August 2021.

DIB has an agency partnership with Co-operative Bank that is aimed at increasing access to customers who are far from the bank’s branches.

“The services they access are still Sharia-compliant. For customers who are still with us but they have business outside of our location, we are able to more holistically bank them and they can channel their collections where we are not located,” said Mr Makau.

DIB, which is seeking to expand into other towns, won the award of the Best Islamic Bank for ESG in the 2022 Global Finance’s World’s Best Islamic Financial Institutions awards.

DIB is already aligned with eight of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals and is gradually aligning itself with more through its business activities and charitable contributions.