Postbank MD retires after nine years at the helm

The long-serving managing director of Postbank, Nyambura Koigi, has retired from the State-owned institution after expiry of her third and final term.

Ms Koigi left Postbank on June 30 after nine years at the helm and has been replaced by Anne Karanja in an acting capacity, awaiting the appointment of a substantive boss by the bank’s board.

Ms Koigi succeeded Esther Koimett — the current Investment Secretary at the Treasury—as Postbank managing director in 2005.

She leaves Postbank amid an ongoing restructuring to make it a fully-fledged bank allowed to lend out money, besides providing a savings channel for its customers—which was the main reason for its founding.

“The restructuring of the bank allowing it to lend out money to customers will indeed unlock its potential,” said Ms Koigi in a telephone interview.

“I left after a consultant had been picked to advice on how to go about the restructuring. It is my hope that the process will be completed as soon as possible.”

Ms Koigi said she is “taking a breather before exploring the several options.”

Postbank was established as a savings bank and does not offer credit to its more than two million customers.

Ms Karanja, the acting MD, says this inability to lend money is “limiting”.

“Restructuring will the next big thing for this institution; the process is already underway,” said Ms Karanja who added that she is “definitely” interested being confirmed to the MD position.

Prior to her promotion, Ms Karanja was the bank’s director of banking services and marketing.

Postbank’s 2012 annual report (the latest to be made public) shows that its net profit for that year stood at Sh224.2 million, having grown by 55.3 per cent over the previous year.