Dr. James Mwangi’s Salary: Equity Bank Group chief executive officer Dr. James Mwangi is one of the best paid corporate bosses in Kenya.
For his latest annual compensation in the full year 2023, Dr. Mwangi took home Sh. 158.8 million. This was inclusive of Sh. 106 million in salary, Sh. 31.8 million in gratuity, and Sh. 4.7 million in non-cash benefits.
However, he refused to accept millions of cash that he was set to be paid as bonus for the banking group’s performance in the financial year ended December 2023. “I declined my bonus in sympathy with our subsidiaries which did not qualify and I felt that I owed them a duty to have helped them to also qualify for the bonus,” Dr Mwangi said.
In the preceding financial year 2022, his earnings as Equity CEO had jumped 49 per cent to Sh. 213.64 million. This was inclusive of a Sh. 53 million bonus. This means that in that year, his salary had increased by up to Sh. 71 million from the Sh. 143 million he had been paid in the 2021 year.
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Equity Bank executive directors who include Mr. Mwangi, are paid a salary, pension and other unspecified benefits.
“Executive directors are eligible to participate in the group’s bonus scheme, which is anchored on achievement of key business performance indicators, but are not entitled to earn fees or sitting allowances. The board reviews and recommends the remuneration structure of directors annually, subject to shareholder’s approval.
Directors’ remuneration is linked to performance but is competitively structured to attract and retain the best talent to effectively develop the group’s business,” Equity says in the report.
Currently, the law requires all public-listed companies to declare the total compensation of each director, including salary, bonuses, pension and expenses charged to the company.
Brief profile:
Dr James Mwangi is an accountant, banker, businessman and entrepreneur in Kenya, the largest economy in the East African Community.
He is the current Group Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer of the Equity Group Holdings Limited, the banking conglomerate with the largest customer base on the African continent, in excess of 8 million as of 2014.
