Awash International Bank hired KPMG Advisory Services to help it become among the top 10 banks in Eastern Africa within the next ten years.
Awash Bank’s President, Tsehay Shiferaw, and David Leahy, director of KPMG East Africa Limited, signed the agreement on June 25, 2015 at Hilton Hotel, in the presence of Board members of the bank and other representatives of KPMG.
KPMG, a Swiss firm providing audit, advisory and tax services, had to compete with other international firms for the job. Among these were US based Grant Thornton International, UK based Ernst & Young Global Limited, PricewaterhouseCoopers also from UK, and McKinsey & Company, from US.
KPMG will design a transformation road map for 2016-2025 for the bank which aims to become internationally competitive. It will conduct local and international economic analysis, to refine the bank’s strategy and forecasting, by framing a new operation model for the organizational structure and business process. New technologies could be introduced for service delivery.
“A lot of analysis and reviews will be made on the bank’s current benchmark to identify the gaps in the bank as well as to take actions for them”, Bisi Lamikanra, partner and head of management consulting at KPMG Advisory Service of Nigeria told Fortune.
Refusing to disclose the sum that will be paid to KPMG, Tsehay noted that Awash is triggered to hire the consultant to make the bank internationally competitive as the government may allow the entry of foreign direct investment to the financial sector in the future.
“It is imminent that the government may change its closed policy in the future and foreign banks will be allowed to join the financial sector,” he told Fortune, adding that Awash should be prepared for that early and be competitive.
Established in 1994, Awash International Bank’s recent performance indicated that total assets stood at around 26 billion Br, with 19 billion Br in total deposits, as well as its loans and advances at approximately three billion Br. The bank has 200 branches, 100 automated teller machines (ATMs) and 500 point of sale (POS) terminals.
[AddisFortune]