Is Joshua Oigara the next Stanbic Bank Kenya CEO?

Former KCB Group Chief Executive Joshua Oigara. [Maxwell Agwanda, Standard]

Former KCB Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Joshua Oigara is in talks with Standard Bank Group Limited for a senior role, Bloomberg reports.

The news outlet says Oigara's talks with Standard Bank are at an advanced stage.

Bloomberg reports that the Standard Bank, the parent company of CFC Stanbic, is hunting for a Chief Executive Officer, to replace Charles Mudiwa who exits the firm in December 2022.

Mudiwa is the outgoing CEO of Stanbic Bank Kenya Limited.

A corporate guru, Oigara is credited for steering KCB to profitability during his time at the helm of the bank between January 2013 and May 25, 2022.

When Oigara took over as KCB CEO on January 1, 2013, the bank had reported a net profit of Sh14.3 billion.

By the time he was exiting, KCB had posted Sh34.2 billion in profit (as of December 31, 2021).

It remains unclear why the 47-year-old took an early exit from KCB, as his contract was scheduled to expire on December 31, 2022.

Oigara was replaced by Paul Russo, who until his appointment in May 2022, was the Managing Director of the National Bank of Kenya, a subsidiary of KCB Group.

Russo was appointed to the National Bank senior role on September 19, 2019, replacing Wilfred Musau.

The banking sector in Kenya has recently witnessed a movement of its top managers, with former Absa chief, Jeremy Awori, heading to Pan-African lender Ecobank as its CEO.

Awori replaced Ade Ayeyemi, who retired after attaining the age of 60 in accordance with the bank's policy.

Awori, 51, announced his exit from Absa Bank Kenya early September 2022 after serving as Chief Executive Officer for nearly 10 years.

Ecobank, which is headquartered in Lome, Togo, has operations in 35 African countries with an asset base of Sh3.3 trillion and more than 32 million customers across Africa.