The mid-tier bank has hired Chris Kisire, who quit the sugar miller at the end of July, to head the docket under a new executive structure that saw the lender scrap the two positions of deputy CEO.
Mr Kisire, 46, joins the bank’s executive team comprising new faces following the appointments of Samson Okero as director of corporate banking from CFC Bank, Habil Waswani (head of legal services), Robert Kibaara and Thomas Gachie as heads of retail banking and ICT respectively.
“Chris has a wealth of experience of over 23 years in financial management, business operations and management, strategic planning and execution, project management and board management (governance),” said National Bank.
Mr Kisire previously served as finance director at media firm Standard Group and CEO of Sovereign Group, an investment firm associated with the family and allies of former President Daniel arap Moi. He quit as head of Mumias Sugar cash office after serving in the job for less than a year.
The restructuring of National Bank’s executive suite, which was designed by global consultancy firm McKinsey, is in line with the lender’s new focus on big-ticket transactions such as home loans and business lending to rev up revenue growth.
Ranked twelfth out of 43 lenders in Kenya, National Bank has declined from a top-three position in 1996 as its model of focusing on government banking and personal lending was upset by newer and nimbler rivals like Equity Bank.
The executive shake-up is being led by chief executive Munir Ahmed who was appointed last September from Standard Chartered following the retirement of the late Reuben Marambii.
In place of deputy CEO positions, the bank now has divisional directors including finance, corporate and retail banking, who will report to Mr Ahmed. It followed in the footsteps of KCB Group by scrapping the deputy CEOs position, which is a rarity in corporate Kenya.
Isaiah Mworia, who served as deputy CEO for customer services, quit the bank in May while his counterpart, Ismail Noor, was nominated as principal secretary in the Labour and Social Security ministry. National Bank has tied its sluggish performance to the over-concentration of lending to individuals.
Cheap deposits helped the lender post a profit of Sh676 million in the first half compared to Sh575 million in a similar period a year earlier.
Mr Kisire’s appointment comes when firms listed on the Nairobi bourse have stepped up their search for finance heads in a market hit by a shortage of CFOs.
“The Kenyan market for CFOs is limited,” said investment analysts Renaissance Capital in an earlier client brief.
NIC is looking for Joseph Mutugu’s replacement after he quit as finance director in July while KCB recently appointed Collins Otiwu as chief financial officer.
Equity Bank looked inward in June and promoted John Staley, the director of mobile banking, to the CFO position, replacing Samson Oduor who left the bank in March after serving for six months.
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