Axis Bank is planning to have branches in Sharjah and Bahrain by March 2017 as part of plans of increasing its presence in the Gulf region. Rajiv Anand, group executive and head of Retail Banking at the bank said the bank wants to set up a representative office in Sharjah and an office in Bahrain as Sharjah has traditionally been a hub for NRIs and has proximity to Dubai, and Bahrain has always been a very vibrant offshore banking centre, so the bank would want to have a booking center there for assets and liabilities. The bank has nine overseas offices – branches at Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai-DIFC, Shanghai and Colombo; representative offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Dhaka; and an overseas subsidiary in London. The bank is also considering entry into east Africa in the next 18 to 24 months to tap the business links between Africa and India. At present it works there through partnerships.