Centum names banker to its board

Centum Investment has appointed Maina Mwangi to its board as the firm seeks to sharpen its focus on the African continent.

The investment firm said in a statement to the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) that Mr Mwangi, an investment banker and a former managing director of Equity Bank’s investment banking, will replace Pauline Muriuki who joined the firm’s board back in 2005.

“Mr Mwangi’s appointment to the Board is in line with Centum’s ambition to expand its investment activity across Africa, with a firm focus on Sub-Saharan Africa,” James Mworia, Centum’s CEO, said in the statement.

Centum is broadening its investment horizon to include strategic interests in West and South Africa, and it’s tapping professionals who understand the private equity market in Africa to help it close acquisition deals.

Before joining Equity Bank, Mr Mwangi served as CEO of Renaissance Capital’s Nairobi office after moving from the Russian investment bank’s West African operation.

Mr Mwangi joins a line up of investment professionals that Centum introduced to its board last year to drive a strategy that will see it transform to a continental private equity powerhouse.

Robert Bunyi, who also worked with Renaissance Capital in South African, was appointed to Centum’s board in January last year alongside Imtiaz Khan, the founder of corporate finance advisory firm Cassia Capital Partners Ltd.

The makeover at Centum’s boardroom comes at a time when the investment firm is also seeking to establish a fully fledged private equity unit in 12 to 24 months.

This will offer it the much needed funds at affordable rates.

The firm currently funds its fresh acquisitions from a combination of retained earnings and borrowing from banks and has been mulling selling a corporate bond at the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE).

The firm looks set to raise fresh funds from high net worth investors, hoping to tap into the increasing flow of funds by rich individuals and institutions looking for partners in emerging countries such as Kenya with their eyes on outsized returns that are becoming scarce in Europe and the US.

Mr Mwangi’s deep network of business contacts across most of Sub-Sahara Africa combined with an enviable understanding of the business environment across the continent, Mr Mworia believes, will play a key role in expanding the firm’s deal pipeline and broaden its sources of capital.