Nairobi, April 5 -- Equity Bank was the second tier-one bank to record a profit decline in an industry that continues to defy the economic challenges to pay record dividends.

Equity Group's CEO James Mwangi spoke with the Business Daily on the bank's financial performance, expansion plans, its insurance arm and performance of the shilling.

The bank's net profit fell last year by six percent, with non-performing loans going up in Kenya. What was the underlying issue?

Kenya is highly interconnected globally, and this was not a domestic, but rather a global shock. It had more significant transmission into Kenya than the other countries in the region.

Unfortunately, Kenya was recovering from years of consecutive drought, and unlike the ot...