Former KCB Group CEO Joshua Oigara has been tapped to head the Kenyan and South Sudan units of Stanbic Bank as the lender seeks to grow its foothold in the market.
Mr Oigara will replace Charles Mudiwa effective December 1 and will be tasked with leading the Standard Group-owned lender to grow its local market share from the current 5.2 percent.
The move comes weeks to the end of Mr Mudiwa’s five-year term at the helm of Stanbic Kenya that lapses next month. Mr Oigara will also be tasked with helping smoother relations between Stanbic and the South Sudan government that had been strained three months ago.
The Bank of South Sudan (BOSS) had in August said that it was contemplating withdrawing its trading licence because the bank has been operating as a branch of the Kenyan lender (Stanbic Bank Limited).
The regulator wanted the business to operate as a subsidiary in South Sudan rather than a branch owned and reporting directly to Nairobi-based Stanbic Bank. BOSS had also refused to approve the appointment of Fred Ouko as the new head of Stanbic South Sudan operations, highlighting the extent of the fall-out.
Stanbic Bank Kenya holds the smallest market share of the nine top-tier banks, according to the latest report by the Central Bank of Kenya.
Mr Oigara, 47, left KCB in April, marking the end of a nine-year stint at the helm of the bank, a period through which the lender grew to become the leading bank with a local market share of 13.8 percent.
