Bank Al-Habib Limited of Pakistan (BAHLP) has shut down its Kenyan operations four years after venturing into the country with its representative office.

The latest move follows a directive from the Central Bank of Kenya that was issued late last year giving a way forward on how the bank will voluntarily cease its operations in the country.

The bank had in 2020 opened a representative office in Nairobi to tap into the multibillion international transaction business in what was its first investment in Africa.

“Notice is hereby given that on October 27th, 2023, BAHL Representative Office received a letter from the Central Bank of Kenya, guiding the way forward for winding up its operations.”

“In accordance with the contents of the above-mentioned letter, this is to notify that the last day of our operations was on June 30th, 2024,” BAHLP said in a notice

It however, noted that the representatives Office will continue to operate its office with non-business activities until all its obligations are fully discharged, as per the requirements of the Central Bank of Kenya.

A representative office does not carry out commercial banking services but is allowed to do research, marketing and liaison roles on behalf of the parent bank and its affiliates.

In the notice the lender expressed sincere appreciation to the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and all their banking partners for their support and assistance during their stay in Kenya.

In their operations in Kenya the bank was forced to use BAHL-instead of that of its parent as the name of its Kenyan office to distinguish itself from two Kenyan banks that bore the word Habib in their names.

The bank has operations in Bahrain, the Seychelles, China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

According to the bank's website, in January this year the profit of the bank grew by 115 percent year-on-year (YoY) compared to the profit of Sh25.65 billion reported last year.