Executives who have stood out in arena of business leadership

On a sunny Wednesday morning, Jonathan Ciano, the Chief Executive Officer of Uchumi Supermarkets, was on the trading floor of Uganda Securities Exchange (USE).  He was in a jolly mood.

A month earlier, the supermarket chain had started trading on Rwanda’s Kigali bourse and here he was again – taking his venture into Uganda’s fledging stock market.

For Uchumi, this was a major milestone having survived the 2006 receivership scare. Mr Ciano had then been brought in as receiver manager starting the arduous task of reviving the stalled company, paying debts running into hundreds of million shillings, and turning it to profitability.

Besides laying a new turn-around strategy, Mr Ciano reopened the closed branches and slowly built the supermarket chain back to profitability.

In May 2011, the supermarket chain resumed trading at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) where it had been suspended after going under. For all these, Mr Ciano became an instant celebrity - recognised as one of the country’s quintessential executives.

Today, his name is mentioned with the likes of Safaricom’s Michael Joseph, Equity Bank’s James Mwangi and Titus Naikuni of Kenya Airways; executives who have either transformed or grown the companies they head, especially in a competitive market.

These leaders picked up the mantle, more or less, from a crop that emerged shortly after Independence and took over from colonial leaders in the 1960s or following the breakup of the East African Community in the 70s.

Though they led the companies in a monopolistic economy, as Kenya was then, they are credited for some of the foundation work they did to build companies that have grown to become major players today.

The late John Michuki cut his teeth in banking before moving to politics as the Member of Parliament for Kangema, in Muranga.

He was appointed to head the newly formed Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), after the government acquired majority shareholding in Grindlays International Bank (Kenya) Limited, forming the new entity in 1970.

He stayed at the bank growing its network countrywide as the head of one of the most important financial institutions in the country, besides National Bank of Kenya, which was then under the leadership of Stanley Githunguri around the same time.

In February 1979, the late Mr Michuki resigned from the bank to unsuccessfully vie for Kangema parliamentary seat. Another popular politician who started off in the world corporate was Kenneth Matiba. He was the first African executive chairman of East African Breweries Limited in the 1970s.

Others included Dr Ephantus Gakuo, the former managing director of Kenya Railways and father of First Lady Margaret Kenyatta from 1967. There was also Julius Gecau, who led the East African Power and Lighting Company from 1970 to mid-1980s. EAPL later became Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC).

Some of these leaders were pushed out of their positions after the death of president Mzee Jomo Kenyatta or opted to join politics.  Others continued to build the personal empires they had founded earlier as civil servants.

While the baton was passed to a new crop of corporate leaders, most of the parastatals that had thrived sunk into debt with the government having to bail out some such as the National Bank and KCB.

After former president Daniel arap Moi’s exit, a new crop of corporate leaders emerged helping to rebuild businesses that had been affected or establish new ones following the privatisation of government-owned institutions.

One of the companies born in the new economic environment was Safaricom. Initially, started as a department of the then Kenya Posts and Telecommunications Corporation, a government body, Safaricom was incorporated in April 1997 and is today the leading telecommunications company in the country.

At its helm for slightly over a decade was Mr Joseph, the man credited with building the largest mobile telecommunication company in Kenya and the most profitable company in the region. In 2007, he launched mobile banking, M-Pesa, which became an instant hit.

In the banking sector, there’s Equity Bank, the leading banking institution in the country by customer base. Started as Equity Building Society in Muranga, it has been at the forefront of driving financial inclusion in the country.

Mr Mwangi has been hailed for the growth of the bank and reaching a wide population of Kenya. His achievements saw him named the Forbes Africa Person of the Year in 2012.

Also riding on Equity Bank’s success is its founder Mr. Peter Munga, who serves as chairman and has seen his wealth grow with his investments at Britam.

Other business leaders have been Manu Chandaria who has grown a family business, Comcraft, into one of the leading companies in the region with a presence in 18 countries in Africa.  The firm produces steel, plastic, paper and aluminium products. He is one of Kenya’s billionaires.

Vimal Shah, the chief executive of Bidco Oil Refineries, has helped grow the family business from a small business in Thika into one of the leading manufacturer of edible oil in the region.

With a net worth of $1.6 billion (Sh137.6 billion) Mr Shah, his brother and father are some of the richest men in Africa, according to Forbes.

As the country celebrates 50 years of independence, a new generation of leaders are expected to emerge to continue driving some of the leading companies in the country or to grow some of the smaller enterprises to be big players in their industry.

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