Companies

Former L’Oréal EA chief executive Patricia Ithau named Barclays director

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Former chief executive of L’Oréal East Africa Patricia Ithau. PHOTO | FILE

The former chief executive of cosmetics firm L’Oréal East Africa Patricia Ithau has been appointed as a non-executive director of Barclays Bank Kenya.

She replaces Philip Kinisu, who resigned from the bank following his appointment as the chairman of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) last year.

Ms Ithau left L’Oréal in 2014 after helping to set up and leading the local arm of the French cosmetics giant for three years.

During her tenure, L’Oréal acquired the health and beauty business of Kenyan-owned Interconsumer Products in a transaction that gave it the Nice & Lovely brand among others.

Ms Ithau has years of experience in the corporate world, having served in executive positions at regional subsidiaries of Unilever and Diageo.

She holds an MBA in Strategic Management from the United States International University and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Nairobi.

Barclays’ board has seen the appointments of several new directors in recent years as the bank seeks to strengthen its strategy and corporate governance.

The new directors include Norah Odwesso and Laila Macharia.

Barclays, which is strong in corporate and retail banking, is seeking to grow its presence in the mortgage and SME lending business.

Some of its new products meant to grow the new business lines include a Sh30 billion SME loan fund and a 48-hour loan approval turn-around time.

The lender is ranked Kenya’s fifth biggest in terms of total assets.