Rawbank

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Rawbank
TypePrivate company
IndustryFinancial services
Founded2002; 19 years ago (2002)
Headquarters
Kinshasa
,
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Key people
Mazhar Rawji (Chairman), Mustafa Rawji (Managing Director)
ProductsLoans, transaction accounts, savings, investments
RevenueIncrease Afertax: US$7,421,808
Total assetsUS$ 2.1+ billion (December 2019)[1]
Number of employees
1,800+ (2019)
ParentRawji Group of Companies
Websitewww.rawbank.com

Rawbank is a commercial bank of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The bank was created on 2 May 2002, having received a Congolese banking license, to operate as a commercial bank by the end of 2001. The bank opened with 10 employees.[2] Since March 2020 the CEO of the bank is Mustafa Rawji and the Chairman of the bank is Mazhar Rawji. Rawbank is the largest bank operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with a balance sheet of $2.1 billion at end of financial year 2019. The bank had a staff of more than 1,800, as at 31 December 2019.[2]

History[]

Rawbank was launched in 2002 by Rawholding S.A., the holding company that is commonly called Rawji Group, that is owned by The Rawji brothers, namely Mushtaque, Mazhar, Aslam and Murtaza. The history of the Rawji group begins at the beginning of the 20th century, when Merali Rawji (father of the Mushtaque siblings) settled in Kindu, then in Kalemie and later in Kisangani, in the eastern part of what was then Belgian Congo. The family made money in the coffee and cocoa trading business. In 1966, it acquired , a distributor of FMCG consumer goods (Fast Moving Consumer Goods), a move that will turn them from successful entrepreneurs to a wealthy family. The directors of this group of companies are descendants of the founder (Merali Rawji). They grew up in Africa, but went to Europe to complete their studies. In the late 1990s, the war rocked the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), but the Rawji continued their business activities. They set up in the capital, Kinshasa, and continued to diversify their portfolio of activities, adding up Prodimpex (Vehicle and machinery importer), a soap and cosmetics manufacturing company, Marsavco, a Unilever subsidiary in DRC, and others. Rawholding S.A. registered in Luxemburg, is a diversified group of companies Holding invested in banking, cosmetics, real estate, and international trade.

Operations[]

Rawbank is a full-service financial institution offering fully fledged retail, commercial and corporate banking services. It is a member of the SWIFT interbank network. Rawbank was started by five brothers. The conglomerate that owns the bank is called Groupe Rawji (Rawji Group of Companies), one of DR Congo's leading conglomerates, jointly owned by brothers: (a) Mazhar Rawji (b) Mushtaque Rawji (c) Aslam Rawji and (d) Murtaza Rawji.[3][4]

As of March 2018, Rawbank was the largest commercial bank in DR Congo, with 24 percent of banking assets in the country and a customer base of nearly of 300,000 accounts.[5] Rawbank was the first financial house in DR Congo to offer mortgages to the public in 2015.[6]

As of August 2014, sixty percent of Rawbank's customers maintained retail accounts. The introduction of mobile money accounts has enabled the bank to attract clients in remote locations, as has the introduction internet banking. The bank is growing its clientele by focusing on (i) the un-banked population (b) young people (c) small to medium-sized businesses and (d) businesses owned by women.[7]

Awards[]

  • Bank of the Year DRC - 2009 (The Banker)
  • Bank of the Year DRC - 2010 (The Banker)
  • Bank of the Year DRC - 2011 (The Banker)
  • Safest Banks 2015 - DRC (Global Finance)
  • Safest Banks 2016 - DRC (Global Finance)
  • Best Bank in DRC 2017 (Global Finance)
  • Best Bank in DRC 2018 (Global Finance)
  • Best Bank in DRC 2019 (Global Finance)
  • ranked 4th in the ranking of Central African banks in 2019 (Jeune Afrique)
  • ranked in the top 5 most famous companies in Central Africa in 2020 (Conseil français des investisseurs en Afrique (CIAN))

Branch Network[]

As at the end of 2019 Rawbank operated 99 points of contact (includes branches and sub-branches), across the Democratic Republic of Congo.[2]

Partnerships[]

Rawbank has tied up strategic partnerships with international and panafrican financial institutions in order to support its activities and vision. In 2019, these partnerships have brought around US$143 million. The partner institutions are:

  • The African Development Bank (AfDB)
  • Shelter Africa
  • International Finance Corporation (IFC)
  • FPM (a financial inclusion fund)
  • Proparco (A division of AFD in charge of bilateral Public-Private partnerships)
  • Trade Development Bank

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Hakeenah, Njenga (27 December 2018). "Congo-Kinshasa: AfDB Boosts Congo SMEs Through Rawbank". The Exchange via AllAfrica.com. Dar es Salaam. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c Press Release (26 March 2018). "Congo-Kinshasa: RAWBANK confirms its position as the Best Bank in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the new 2018 ranking recently published by US magazine Global Finance". 35° Nord (Paris) via AllAfrica.com. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  3. ^ Wilson, Thomas (8 May 2017). "Biggest Congo Bank Plans Home-Market Drive Before Regional Entry". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  4. ^ Wilson, Thomas (27 July 2017). "Congo Is About to Destroy the State Monopoly on Insurance". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  5. ^ Ecofin Agency (14 March 2018). "DR Congo: AfDB lends $15 million to Rawbank to support the private sector". EcofinAgency.com. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  6. ^ Mthembu-Salter, Gregory (21 October 2015). "Democratic Republic of Congo: Banking on the little guy". Paris: The Africa Report. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  7. ^ The Africa Report (1 August 2014). "DRC's Rawbank continues to grow despite weak markets". Paris: The Africa Report. Retrieved 26 March 2018.

External links[]

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