Kenya’s Banking Industry in perspective?

Watching Kenyan news earlier today, I learnt that Family Bank Kenya has acquired a new strategic investor expected to inject fresh capital to aid in the company’s growth. I have great interest in the banking industry, and have therefore decided to shift focus from the political news and give opinions on Kenyan’s banking sector.
So what does the Kenyan economy gain from these banking expansions? Kenya’s economy faces a lot of challenges and one of the things that I am proud of, is that our financial sector is growing. However, as banks keep growing and diversifying their range of products, my main concern is the high interest rates that this banks charge. As a case example, how can the poor majority in Kenya turn their lives around when they are being charged an intrest of 17%? There needs to be tougher regulation for Kenyan banks. Even in the developed economies the interest rates are not as high; at least there are varying interest rates.
On the plus side, I commend the recent introduction of credit reference bureaus. I have always felt that they were long overdue in Kenya; I am meant to believe that the country seems to be on the path to developing a healthy and sound banking sector; however we need to put stringent regulations as far as interest rates are concerned. We need low interest rates for the common mwananchi, not this kind of rates that are only accessible to the rich. The country needs the Central bank to reform some of the policies to ensure that our banking sector continues to build on this growing confidence shown by foreign investors. With the increased competitiveness, signs are that things are being run efficiently. As Kenyans continue to talk about the so called Vision 2030, I believe that the financial sector will play a critical role in the economic development of the country, because banks have been identified as the key to the socio-economic model in Kenya.