Stymied by the limited growth potential at home, Kuwait’s major banks have continued their various strategies of expansion abroad. Turkey has been a particular focus, while north Africa is still providing growth opportunities despite recently being beset by political upheaval. Encouraged by the Central Bank of Kuwait to grow overseas, banks from the country are looking to Algeria and Morocco to the west and considering options as far east as Indonesia, where Islamic banking is in its early stages.
Meanwhile, as Kuwaiti banks look outwards, Chinese banks are starting to see the opportunities offered by Kuwait as the pipeline of mega-projects from the $130bn five-year economic development plan, unveiled in 2010, slowly begin to emerge.
