Kenya’s Privatisation Authority has launched a call for consultants to guide the sale of Development Bank Kenya (DBK), just weeks after the Cabinet approved the move .

As part of President William Ruto’s plan to “steer the turnaround” of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and corporations, the Cabinet said it had considered and approved the proposed privatisation of DBK, noting the development finance institution has become a deposit-taking commercial bank, Business Daily reports.

In the 2023 fiscal year (through June 30), DBK made a net profit of KES48.99mn ($378,000), an increase from KES28.4mn y/y. Its total assets during the period were KES17.9bn up from KES16.9bn in the 2022 fiscal year.

Its loan book stood at KES9.6bn (up from KES8.7bn in the previous year) and had total liabilities of KES14bn (up from KES13bn in the 2022 fiscal year).

The government may to DBK on the Nairobi Securities Exchange or look for a strategic investor.

Apart from DBK, in which the government has an 89.3% stake, it also has a majority stake (52%) in another lender, the Consolidated Bank of Kenya.

Over the past three decades, the government has been divesting from banks with Consolidated Bank also in the pipeline of entities to be privatised, according to Business Daily.

Outside the banking sector, President William Ruto’s administration is looking sell a 43.77% stake in Kenya Wines Agencies Limited, while the Cabinet last month also announced that it had approved the privatisation of seven hotels.