BK Group Chairman Jean Philippe Prosper
The Annual General Assembly (AGM) of the Bank of Kigali Group Plc has committed to pay off shareholder’s dividends for the year-end 2023, with a promise to further grow the group’s subsidiaries in the next five years.
The 2024 AGM was held on Wednesday, 22nd May 2024 in Kigali and officially opened by the new Group’s Chairman, Jean Philippe Prosper.
The meeting agreed that a dividend of Rwf24.18 per ordinary share will be payable on or about 2nd July 2024 to shareholders registered as of 14th June 2024, but also approved a 5% discount offer of the dividend reinvestment which was made to shareholders to grab before the AGM.
BK Group Chairman, Prosper, said that in his first year in office, he has found that the Group companies are well run and it will be his duty to make it better every day.
For example, the group’s bank- Bank of Kigali Plc is so far the leading commercial bank with 33% market shares and regional profits remain high while the BK insurance company holds the third place in the country (but remains most profitable in the Group).
BK Capital retained position number one in financial advisory and number two in fund management; while BK Techouse- played a big role in financial inclusion with three million farmers using its platforms.
BK Looking Ahead
With all these Group companies making profits (Rwf75 Billion in Net Profit-Quarter 4, 2023- a 25% growth), the Group created BK Foundation in 2023, and according to Prosper, this foundation will be very important in creating corporate social responsibility.
The chairperson highlighted the Foundation’s new areas of interest as venturing into the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)- a current global development model- to ensure its relevancy.
“We want to be a customer centric organization. That is the main aspect- the focus on the client- we want to be innovative by using digitalization,” Prosper said.
Prosper noted that BK Group doesn’t want its bank (BK) to continue to be perceived, as it was in the past, as only a corporate bank while it is has graduated to become a “People’s Bank”.
“We want to make sure we are the bank for all Rwandans. So we are talking a lot about financial inclusion, digitalization- obviously we want to do all this while being, not just profitable but extremely profitable,” Prosper stated.
Proper said he believes that the Group should focus on gender diversity, an aspect which is already picking steps in the Group’s leadership where 50% are women with female leaders such as Group’s CEO- Béata Uwamaliza Habyarimana and BK Plc CEO- Dr. Diane Karusisi; but also a third of BK board members being women.
“I personally, by experience, strongly believe in the business case for gender diversity. I don’t see it as ‘nice to have’ but I see it as a must have,” Prosper said and explained that with gender inclusiveness the business case can be improved by on-boarding different ideas- especially from women.
The AGM approved the Annual Report and Audited Financial Statements for the year ended 31st December 2023, including reports from the Chairman, Directors, and Auditors.
Meanwhile, the AGM re-elected BK Group board as of year 2024 including Jean Phillipe Prosper and Sonia Masimbi Kubwimana, chairperson and vice chairperson respectively. Mutesi Linda Rusagara, Darren Smith, Roselyne Uwamahoro, Achumile Majija and Francis Gatare Kabera were re-elected as board members.
BK Plc CEO, Dr. Diane Karusisi stated that the bank will continue building ecosystems while also consolidating functions of subsidiaries and other fintechs on the market.
BK Group CEO- Béata Habyarimana noted that they will capitalize on the low savings situation in the country to introduce micro investments within digital platforms. This will go hand in had with increase of financial inclusion in agriculture.
Habyarimana explained why the bank recently closed its operations in Nairobi, Kenya, saying that this will not affect the presence of the bank- which is still cross-listed on the Nairobi stock Exchange (NSE). She said the bank will be better positioned to provide digital products across the region and further.
On the issue of the 50% dividends share policy, Habyarimana explained that it was an exceptional offer during the pandemic years, but this has been reverted to a third of the dividend and it can be increased depending on profitability ahead.
Regarding the introduction of new products and retaining clients, Dr. Karusisi revealed that with the help of the chief product development officer, they are developing a new product- financing equipment for private clinics- to be launched soon in collaboration with other BK subsidiaries (BK insurance and the bank).
