Kenyan banks have posted their results for the third quarter and, apart from a few exceptions, are expected to post modest profit growth for 2009 as a whole. Following are key facts about Kenyan banks:

* The industry posted an 11% growth in assets for the year ended September to 1.31 trillion shillings ($17.5 billion).

* Total deposits rose to 1 trillion shillings and the branch network grew by 154 branches to 918 during the same period.

* There are 43 commercial banks in Kenya. The biggest, in terms of total assets, is Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) with 191 billion shillings at the end of last year.

* For decades, since independence from Britain in 1963, Kenyan banking was dominated by local units of the likes of Barclays and Standard Chartered. These have been challenged by home-grown institutions such as Equity Bank.

* The latest foreign bank to pitch its tent in Kenya is Nigeria’s United Bank for Africa (UBA).

* There are about 6.3 million bank accounts in Kenya, out of a total population of more than 36 million — up from 2.6 million accounts at the end of 2005.

* Kenyan banks employed 22,438 people as of December l, 2008.

* There are nine banks or holding companies for banks listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) with a market value in excess of 270 billion shillings, at the end of August.

* Two Islamic banks — Gulf African Bank and First Community Bank — opened their doors early last year and now have nearly 1% of gross banking assets.

Read/watch more news on Kenya

Kenya Commercial Bank(KCB) | Barclays (Kenya) | Standard Chartered (Kenya) | Equity Bank | United Bank for Africa (UBA) | Gulf African Bank (GAB) | First Community Bank (FCB)

Source(s): CNBC

Tags: Banking, Barclays, Equity Bank, FCB, First Community Bank, GAB, Gulf African Bank, Islamic Banking, KCB, Kenya, Kenya Commercial Bank, Nairobi Stock Exchange, Nigeria, NSE, Standard Chartered, Stock Market, UBA, United Bank for Africa