The banking sector is one of the crucial sectors in Kenya’s economic development. Banking institutions have been fundamental in improving the well-being of millions of Kenyans.

According to the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has over 39 commercial banks, with Nine banks controlling 75 percent of the industry’s assets.

The nine are Equity, KCB, Co-operative Bank, NCBA, Absa (Kenya), Standard Chartered Bank (Kenya), I&M , Diamond Trust Bank (DTB) and Stanbic Bank Kenya.

This article features CEOs of the 10 most popular Banks in Kenya.

Dr. James Mwangi-Equity Bank

Dr. James Mwangi is the CEO of Equity Bank, one of the biggest banks in Kenya, with a customer base of  20.7 million and a distribution network of 403 branches.

Mwangi, who became Equity CEO in 2004 is credited with democratizing financial access, leading Equity to become an integrated financial services Group operating in 6 African countries. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Paul Russo-KCB

Paul Russo is the CEO of KCB Bank, a position he has held since May 2022. A look at his career profile shows that Russo has been working at KCB Bank since 2014 as KCB Group’s Head of Human Resources.

Furthermore, since NBK became a subsidiary of the KCB Group in 2019, he was the managing director at NBK among eight other subsidiaries.

He has previously worked in the Human Resource department of Kenya Breweries as the Acting Compensation and Benefits Manager, before joining  Barclays Bank of Kenya (present-day Absa Bank Kenya), Barclays bank Tanzania and Barclays Africa all as a regional HR head.

He has also worked at K-Rep Bank (present-day Sidian Bank) as Chief HR officer and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC Kenya) as head of Human Capital.

Gideon Muriuki-Co-op Bank

Muriuki was appointed as the Co-op Bank Managing Director in 2001 and has presided over the Bank’s turnaround from a massive loss position of Sh2.3 billion in the year 2000, to a profit before tax of Sh22.6 Billion In 2021.

A  look at his career profile shows that he joined the Bank in 1996 as a Senior Corporate Manager then became Director, Corporate and Institutional Banking in 1999 before his appointment as Managing Director in 2001.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics.

John Gachora –NCBA

John Gachora was appointed as the Group Managing Director and Group CEO of NCBA Group in 2019 following the merger between NIC Group PLC and Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA), which gave birth to the present-day NCBA Bank.

He has several years of experience in executive management positions at various global companies in Corporate and Investment Banking, Structuring and Financial Engineering, Commercial Banking, and Financial Services.

Gachora is a Director of several other companies and previously served as a Managing Director at Bank of America Securities and as Managing Director, Corporate and Investment Banking at Barclays Africa prior to joining the NCBA Group.

He holds Bachelor of Science and Masters in Engineering degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA and an MBA degree from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, USA.

Abdi Mohammed-Absa Kenya

Abdi Mohammed has been at the helm of Absa Bank Kenya since May 2023 following the exit of Jeremy Awori who exited the lender in October 2022 after nearly a 0-year stint.

Prior to his appointment, Abdi was the Managing Director, Absa Bank Tanzania, and acting Managing Executive for Retail and Business Banking Africa Regional Operations, Absa, a role that spans across multiple geographies within Africa.

He has previously served as Chief Operating Officer for the Bank in Kenya. Other roles that he held within the organisation also include Retail & Business Banking Director in Kenya and Zambia, and as Operations Efficiency Manager, Barclays Global Retail & Commercial Banking (GRCB), London.

He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) – Kenyatta University, Masters Business Administration (MBA) – Edith Cowan University and Advanced Management Programme (IMD Business School – Switzerland).

Kariuki Ngari -Standard Chartered Bank of Kenya

Kariuki is the Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director of Standard Chartered Bank Kenya Kenya & Africa.

With over 30 years of banking experience, Kariuki was instrumental in transforming the Consumer Banking divisions of Standard Chartered Bank Kenya and the African region.

Prior to his current role, he was the Global Head of retail Distribution for Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore. He has also held senior positions at Absa Bank Kenya PLC.

James Mwangi’s Salary: Breakdown of pay Equity CEO earns monthly, annually

Gul Khan -I&M Bank Kenya

Mr. Gul joined I&M Bank Kenya as the Chief Executive Officer and Board member in January 2023. He has over 20 years of international financial services experience, mostly with HSBC, having worked in Europe, North America, Asia, Middle East & Africa – 9 countries in total.

Nasim Devji -Diamond Trust Bank (DTB) Kenya

Nasim was appointed Group CEO and Managing Director of Diamond Trust Bank in 2001 after joining the lender in 1996.

She is a director of DTB Tanzania, DTB Uganda, DTB Burundi Jubilee Insurance Burundi, Diamond Trust  and Insurance Agency Limited.

Stanbic Bank Kenya

Mr. Joshua Oigara was appointed as the Chief Executive and Executive Director of Stanbic Bank Kenya Limited on 1st December 2022 and 1st January 2023 respectively.

He previously served as Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, KCB Group for close to ten years.

He holds an MBA with a distinction in International Business Management from Edith Cowan University, Australia, a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Nairobi and is an Advanced Management Programme Graduate from INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France.

He is a Certified Public Accountant of Kenya, CPA (K) and a member of the Kenya Institute of Bankers (KIB) and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK).

Nancy Njau-Family Bank

She was appointed as Family Bank Managing Director and CEO in November 2023 replacing Rebecca Mbithi who exited after a five-year term at the helm.

Prior to her appointment, Nancy had served the bank for 21 years in various capacities including being the Head of Retail Banking, Chief Officer Public Sector, and the Ag. Chief Commercial Officer.

She holds a master’s Degree in Business Administration specializing in Strategic Management from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, a Bachelor of Commerce Degree (Accounting) from Kenyatta University, and a Higher Diploma in Human Resource Management.

In addition, she is a Certified Public Accountant of Kenya (CPA-K) and a Certified Executive Leadership Coach