KenGen board says she emerged tops after beating 90 other applicants for the corner office.
The lawyer has been serving in an acting capacity since August.
She has worked at the company for the past 19 years.
The board of electricity producer Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) #ticker:KEGN has confirmed Rebecca Miano Wednesday, making her the first woman Managing Director and CEO of the State-owned firm.
The 51 year-old lawyer has been serving in an acting capacity since August following the exit of former CEO Albert Mugo when he clocked the retirement age of 60.
The KenGen board said that she emerged tops after beating 90 other applicants for the corner office.
She now joins MaryJane Mwangi of oil marketer National Oil who was the only female executive at the helm of an energy parastatal.
“The Board is confident that Mrs Miano’s skills and wealth of experience, having worked in the company for the past 19 years, will help drive KenGen forward and position it as a leader in the energy sector,” KenGen Chairman Joshua Choge said in a statement.
Until her appointment, Ms Miano was responsible for driving the corporate governance agenda at the company.
She joined the State-owned power producer in 1998 and worked in various roles including senior legal officer, assistant company secretary and legal affairs director.
Profit increase
KenGen powered to a 34 per cent net profit of Sh9.05 billion in the year ending June 2017, up from Sh6.7 billion a year earlier.