Equity Group CEO James Mwangi is in no hurry to leave the bank he helped thrive.
Mwangi, 59, has revealed that he expects to stay on as the head of the financial institution for at least 10 more years, with the earliest retirement date coming in 2032.
That would make him one of the longest serving CEOs of a Nairobi Securities Exchange listed firm.
Mwangi has been with the bank for 31 years in various management capacities, with 17 of those years as the CEO. He joined then Equity Building Society in 1990 as the Finance Director.
He sees no need to leave the bank’s holding company early, because the retirement age is 70, and he has his roles reduced.
“I have served only 17 years. I am inspired by that. Equity retirement age is 70. Peter Munga retired as chairman at age of 75, just like David Ansell. When my time comes, it will be really easy [retiring] but I am still under 60,” Mr Mwangi said in an interview.
“I have retired from all the subsidiaries and now on the holding company. So I don’t see a challenge because I don’t run the business. The company that I run is the holding company, managing the relationship with investors. That doesn’t drive performance, but drives relationship with the shareholders. That can be done by anybody.”
The holding company oversees subsidiaries in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, DRC, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan.
It is during his tenure that Equity Bank became one of the largest and most profitable financial institutions on the continent. He also remains one of the top individual shareholders, holding a 4.38% worth over Sh8 billion.
