Members of the upper chamber of Parliament were yesterday advised to buy shares in Bank of Kigali (BK) during the bank’s ongoing Initial Public Offer (IPO).

The IPO process gives the investor an opportunity to apply for shares early on the primary market at possibly lower prices than on secondary market.

While briefing the Senators as part of the awareness campaign about the capital markets and the IPO, Lawson Naibo, the bank’s Chief Operations Officer (COO), said that last year, BK’s assets hit Rwf197 billion as the company netted in Rwf6.1billion profits.

Its market share presently stands at 27 per cent.

The Bank intends to open 60 branches across the country by 2013, with 12 branches this year, and 15 Automated Terra Machines, he said.

Government is offering 20 per cent of its stake in the bank to the public in order to support the growth of the country’s stock exchange and divest from the public.

The bank also offered 25 per cent of its shares, raising the total offer to 45 per cent. Each share is retailing at Rwf125 on the primary market.

Experts say government is monitoring the market closely with an intention of selling off its entire stake in the bank.

Senators expressed their concern about the value of the share that would drop or rise since the performance of the company involved global trading.

"Some of the risks are beyond the company’s control. Of course where there is such big investment we expect risks but we have a team that understands the market,” Lawson said.

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