Is Equity Bank The Bully That Wants To Devour Others Along The Way?

In a deeply disheartening move, the High Court of Kenya on Friday declined to stop Equity Bank’s aggressive takeover of TransCentury PLC, triggered by a KSh2.2 billion loan default by its subsidiary, East African Cables.
What’s unfolding is more than a simple lender-borrower dispute. Still, it is an ominous sign of how power dynamics in Kenya’s banking sector are dangerously tilted in favor of financial behemoths like Equity Bank, to the detriment of businesses and the very spirit of entrepreneurship.
TransCentury was once the pride of indigenous investment, a company formed by bold Kenyan investors who dared to dream. It thrived during its early years, expanding into infrastructure, energy, and industrial sectors. But like many companies that grow quickly, it faced headwinds: a difficult macroeconomic environment, currency depreciation, delayed payments from government contracts, and high debt servicing costs.
Despite this, TransCentury and its subsidiaries, including East African Cables, kept engaging with lenders in good faith, trying, like many Kenyan businesses, to restructure and survive.
But Equity Bank had other plans.
Equity Bank has long positioned itself as a champion of financial inclusion. Its “dare to dream” rhetoric targets micro-entrepreneurs and SMEs. But when it comes to dealing with mid-sized or large businesses in distress, the bank shows a different face, one that is less benevolent and more aggressive. In the case of TransCentury, Equity has seized East African Cables, citing default on loans, and now looms large over the parent company itself.
This isn’t the first time Equity Bank has pulled the rug from under a struggling borrower. In recent years, it has aggressively moved in on defaulting businesses, securing court orders with remarkable speed and precision.
The underlying tone is clear: “If you falter, we’ll own you.” Not long ago, Equity moved to auction assets belonging to former CS Moses Kuria, despite his commitment to clear the loan owed. In 2024, Equity moved to auction land belonging to a businessman in Mombasa to get 54 million shillings owed. The land was worth more than 1.2 billion shillings. Is Equity Bank becoming the “widow-maker” of businesses? Is Equity out to create massive unemployment, the way it is firing 1,200 employees of its own?
This approach may be legal, but is it ethical? Is it supportive of Kenya’s fragile business ecosystem? Not.
It Deters Entrepreneurship: Startups and growth-stage companies already operate under immense financial pressure. Seeing one of Kenya’s former corporate stars fall this way sends a dangerous signal: if you take a risk and fail, your company could be swallowed whole by your lender.
It Undermines Restructuring Culture: Debt restructuring is a normal part of business worldwide. In developed markets, banks work with companies in distress to turn them around. But in Kenya, Equity Bank’s scorched-earth policy discourages dialogue. Its actions suggest: restructure fast or lose everything.
It Worsens the Credit Climate: Ironically, such tactics don’t make banks safer. They create panic in the lending environment. More companies will avoid formal loans or turn to shadow lenders, hurting transparency, tax revenue, and economic stability.
It Weakens Local Industry: If TransCentury collapses, at least 1,500 jobs will be directly lost, and 10,000 plus others that depend on it will feel the heat. Supply chains will suffer. Investor confidence will be rattled. Equity Bank’s aggressive move, while self-serving in the short term, could cause broader instability in the industrial sector.
The High Court Missed an Opportunity
The judiciary has a delicate role in disputes like this. While it’s not the court’s job to rescue failed businesses, it must protect the principles of fairness, proportionality, and economic stability.
This isn’t justice. This is corporate colonialism.
We need a national conversation about the balance of power between banks and borrowers. Regulators, especially the Central Bank of Kenya and the Capital Markets Authority, must take a closer look at lender behaviour. Courts must be sensitized to the ripple effects of corporate takeovers, especially where systemic employment and industrial output are at stake.
In the meantime, we must call out what this is: a case of corporate bullying. A bank with KSh1 trillion in assets is crushing a once-proud Kenyan company over a loan default that could have been restructured with goodwill and patience.
Equity Bank must remember that business isn’t just about balance sheets and bottom lines. It’s also about nation-building. It’s about nurturing the very enterprises that fuel the economy.
Because when we let our lenders devour our dreamers, we all los