KCB Group has recruited 2,500 employees in its Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Trust Merchant Bank SA (TMB) unit.
The hires come after the lender last December acquired a controlling stake of 85 per cent at the bank.
After receiving approval from Kenya, the DRC, and the COMESA Competition Commission, the lender acquired TMB.
A sizable agency banking network, together with a representative office in Belgium, supports TMB's 109-branch bank network.
More than one in five bank accounts in the DRC are held by TMB, which has an 11 per cent market share based on total assets.
Additionally, the bank has hired 720 employees in Kenya, 52 in Rwanda, 20 in South Sudan, Tanzania’s unit hired 10, Uganda attracted six and Burundi hired three.
Rising numbers of workers across the board pushed the group’s staff cost by 22.4 per cent to Kes30.26 billion.
In the full year ending December 2022, KCB Group posted a Kes40.8 billion profit after tax on higher funded and non-funded income streams.
Its net profit grew 19.5 per cent to Kes40.8 billion from Kes34.2 billion during a similar period in 2021.
Similarly, the profit before tax contribution of other subsidiaries excluding KCB Bank Kenya increased to 17.0 per cent (up from 13.9 per cent in 2021) attributed to higher income.
