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Grace Kennedy applies for banking licence
One of the Caribbean’s most powerful companies, Grace Kennedy (GK) Limited, has signaled its intentions to move into Guyana’s banking sector.
GK, according to the group’s Chief Executive Officer, Don Wehby, is also eying the mobile money market.
According to a report last week in the daily online newspaper, Jamaican Gleaner, Group CEO Don Wehby said that GK was awaiting a reply from Minister of Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, regarding its interest in a commercial banking licence.
“He has forwarded the letter to the governor of the Bank of Guyana and we are looking forward to having further discussions with him shortly,” said Wehby.
GraceKennedy’s CEO, Don Wehby
According to the report, GraceKennedy first disclosed its intentions to enter the banking sector through subsidiary First Global Bank, during celebration of its 20 years of doing business in the South American country in April 2013.
The Jamaican conglomerate is also considering expansion into the Eastern Caribbean.
Its banking push into Guyana resulted from an assessment of the country’s fast-growing economy that the International Monetary Fund projects will expand by 5.5 per cent this year.
Within Guyana, Wehby said First Global was considering the offer of small business US-dollar loans at competitive rates. GK is also reviewing opportunities in mobile money services for that market, a venture which, Wehby said, would require a custodian bank in keeping with international best practice.
Grace Kennedy is one of the Caribbean’s largest and most dynamic corporate entities. The company started in Jamaica in 1922 as a small trading establishment and wharf operator. It has expanded and diversified over the years, changing from a privately-owned enterprise to a public company listed on the stock exchanges of Jamaica, and Trinidad & Tobago.
Today, the Grace Kennedy Group comprises a varied network of some 60 subsidiaries and associated companies located across the Caribbean and in North and Central America and the United Kingdom.
Its operations span the areas of food processing and distribution, insurance and remittance services, like the Grace Kennedy Remittance Service/Western Union, together with an investment in building materials retailing.
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