Joshua Oigara, Kenya Commercial Bank’s group chief executive officer is now the new chairman of Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) governing council after being elected by members, ending the tenure of Lamin Manjang, Standard Chartered Bank CEO and area general manager for East Africa, who had held the position for the last two years.
Not being a stranger in the banking sector, he is expected to use his extensive expertise and experience to lead the bankers association towards the right direction. With a Bachelor of Commerce degree from University of Nairobi and Master of Business Administration from Edith Cowan University as well as a certificate in Digital Business Transformation from IMD Business School, Mr Oigara is likely to do a good job in this new position.
He takes over at a time when the industry is having one of its biggest challenges thanks largely to the interest rate cap, which has seen credit access become a problem in the last two years and the silent digital heist bedevilling local banks. The new chairman says that governance remains an important area for financial institutions and therefore he will work to promote the KBA Charter, which introduces an industry code of ethics and framework for peer accountability. On the interest rate cap, he says that its removal should have come sooner, and thus he will continue guiding the governing council towards engaging in the matter.
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“We have given proposals to make credit more accessible, and the Inuka SME Program, particularly the Sh30 billion fund, will be an important component of the industry’s response to concerns raised by our stakeholders,” he said, adding that there will be continued support towards IPSL (Integrated Payment Services Limited) in rolling out fintech innovations such as PesaLink as they help to promote efficiency and enhance the user experience for consumers of financial services.
Whether he will be able to continue the record left by his predecessor, who managed to take the industry further by launching the IPSL and adopting policies that covered areas of fraud and money laundering, or not, only time will tell.
