Equity Group Holdings Plc has received shareholder approval to establish a Representative Office in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), marking its first physical footprint outside the African continent and showcasing a new chapter in the bank’s international expansion.
The approval granted during Equity Group’s 21st Annual General Meeting held on June 25, 2025, signals the bank’s ambition to link East and Central Africa with key global economic hubs. The new office, expected to open in early 2026, will be based in Dubai, pending regulatory clearance from the Central Bank of Kenya and relevant UAE authorities.
The UAE office is set to become a critical financial bridge between Africa and regions including the Middle East, India, Central Asia, and South Asia. Equity says it will offer diaspora banking, trade facilitation, customer relationship services, investment advisory, and capital-raising opportunities.
“This is more than a footprint in the UAE,” said Dr. James Mwangi, Group Managing Director and CEO of Equity Group Holdings.
He added, “It is a gateway to integrating East Africa’s economies with global financial markets and supply chains.”
The move is particularly significant for the thousands of Equity Bank Uganda customers living and working in the Gulf including in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Saudi Arabia who have long yearned for direct banking access. Many in the diaspora, including professionals, laborers, and entrepreneurs, currently face delays and high costs due to limited formal financial infrastructure and reliance on informal remittance systems.
Equity Bank Uganda has actively engaged this community in recent years. Its service teams have visited the UAE and Saudi Arabia to offer tailored services, including remittances, diaspora savings products, and investment options. These visits revealed a strong demand for deeper financial integration—demand the new Dubai office now seeks to fulfill.
Once operational, the office will provide on-site support for letters of credit, supply-chain financing, and enhanced remittance platforms, greatly improving turnaround times for cross-border transactions and boosting economic activity.
This expansion comes as Equity continues to solidify its position as a leading pan-African banking group, with existing operations in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and a commercial office in Ethiopia.
The Dubai office is also expected to attract Gulf investors interested in East Africa’s fast-growing sectors, including agribusiness, infrastructure, manufacturing, and renewable energy.
With its enhanced service capabilities, Equity is positioning itself as Africa’s “one-stop financial services platform”, aiming to power economic transformation not just across the continent, but across continents.
