Diamond Trust Bank (DTB) Kenya has announced its full exit from Burundi after reaching a deal to sell its controlling shareholding in the subsidiary.
The lender disclosed it is offloading its 83.67 per cent stake in DTB Burundi to a consortium led by a long-time minority shareholder, ending a 16-year presence in the market.
While the bank did not reveal the value of the deal, its 2024 annual report shows the investment in the Burundi operation was carried at Sh636.9 million. The subsidiary closed 2024 with assets worth Sh4.6 billion, a decline from Sh5.9 billion recorded the previous year.
“The DTB Kenya Board has reviewed the offer from the consortium and our long-standing partner in Burundi and considers that it represents a fair value and return on investment for DTB,” said DTB Group CEO Nasim Devji.
The identity of the consortium was not disclosed, but regulatory filings indicate that Unik Investment SA, owned by Burundian-based investor Shafiq Jiwani, is the remaining minority shareholder.
Jiwani, through his associate Aliya Shafiq Jiwani, has been represented on the Burundi board of directors since inception.
DTB Burundi was set up in 2008 as a greenfield operation with Unik Investment holding a 16.33 per cent stake, alongside Abu Dhabi’s Al Bateen Investment Company LLC and the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), which were also allocated 16.33 per cent each.
DTB Kenya served as the anchor investor with 51 per cent of the shares.
However, Al Bateen Investment later pulled out and did not take up its stake, leaving DTB with 67.34 per cent shareholding when the bank officially launched operations in June 2009, an investment then valued at Sh262.9 million. Over the years, DTB gradually grew its stake to 83.67 per cent before the latest divestiture.
