NIC Bank hires Barclays executive as CEO

NIC Bank has appointed a Johannesburg-based Barclays Bank executive following the appointment of James Macharia to the Cabinet.

The mid-tier lender has tapped John Gachora, the managing director in charge of corporate and investment banking of Barclays Africa, as its head.

“I am very pleased to announce the appointment of John Gachora as the new Group Managing Director of NIC Bank with effect from 16 September,” said NIC chairman James Ndegwa, in a memo to the staff.

Mr Gachora, 44, joined Barclays Africa from South Africa’s Absa Africa where he was CEO and holds an MBA from Wharton Business School and masters in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Mr Macharia was sworn in as Health Cabinet secretary May 15 and had led NIC Bank since 2005.

Allan Dodd, executive director for corporate banking, has been the acting managing director.

READ: NIC starts executive search after naming acting chief

Mr Gachora’s announcement of the NIC job comes days after the completion of the merger of Barclays Plc Africa operations with those of its South African subsidiary Absa Bank.

Under the deal, Absa would take control of Barclays PLC’s Africa’s operations including its 68.5 per cent stake in the Kenyan unit in a share swap deal that would increase the UK’s lender’s stake in the South African unit to 62.3 per cent from the current 55.5 per cent.

Barclays acquired a 55.5 per cent stake in South Africa’s third-largest bank in 2005 but the two have remained separate entities outside South Africa, with Tanzania running parallel operations in the same country.

Absa has operations in Tanzania same as Barclays.

NIC Bank's share stood at Sh56.50 compared to Sh53 when the appointment of Mr Macharia was made public on April 23 and has gained 35.3 per cent over the past six months.