DTB picks Linus Gitahi  to spearhead growth

Diamond Trust Bank (DTB) recently announced the appointment of Mr. Linus Gitahi as Chairperson.

Announced to the DTB shareholders at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) listed firm’s Annual General Meeting of 23 May 2019, the appointment is geared at accelerating growth and corporate governance reforms. Gitahi, who has been serving as a Director on the DTB Board, has taken over the mantle from outgoing Chairperson, Mr. Abdul Samji who has served for the last nine years.

He will provide corporate governance leadership for DTB which is banking on technological transformation programmes to transform its subsidiaries into premier digital banking and payments solution providers for an increasingly discerning and technology-driven customer base and provide further impetus to the realization of the DTB Vision 2020 strategy which seeks to position DTB Group banks as the leading players in the banking finance industry in sub-Saharan Africa.

While accepting his appointment, Mr. Gitahi confirmed that with a current asset base of Kshs 378 billion, DTB Group’s growth will be heavily leveraged on the firm’s digital transformation strategy. The strategy, he said, will seek to embed DTB subsidiaries into the lifestyles of its customers by developing simple yet efficient digital financial solutions.

“To achieve this, we will build on and leverage digital solutions, as well as embrace data-driven analytics, to effectively respond to evolving customer needs and aspirations,” he said.

While crediting outgoing Chairman Samji and the Management team led by Group CEO Nasim Devji for a job well done, Gitahi noted that DTB remains a strong institution and will continue playing a key role in the promotion of socio-economic development under his leadership.

“This, DTB will continue doing by contributing meaningfully to the improvement in the quality of lives of our customers and the broader community in which we operate, in addition to our clients on both the traditional and digital channels, as well as those that are under-served,” Gitahi said adding that, “This requires us to continuously pursue an aggressive and expansive financial inclusion agenda, targeting a broad spectrum of customer segment from large corporates, SMEs, micro- enterprises, salaried employees and high net worth individuals among others.”

On her part, Ms. Devji said she is looking forward to Mr. Gitahi’s leadership in actualising the DTB’s growth agenda. “He understands this organisation and has the expertise to take DTB to greater heights and deliver value to shareholders” she said.

She also expressed her gratitude to Mr. Samji, saying “His diligent leadership ensured we remained committed to the company mission, and saw us grow from a mid-level bank to a Tier- 1 bank in East Africa”.

Mr. Gitahi was first appointed to the DTB Board in April 2017 and also serves as the Chairman of Tropikal Brands (Africa) Limited, Chairman of Oxygène Marketing Communications Limited and is a Trustee of the Management University of Africa. In addition, he is an independent Board director of Simba Corp, Outspan Hospital and Medical College as well as Allianz Insurance (K) Limited.

Currently pursuing his Doctorate studies at the United States International University-Africa, Mr. Gitahi holds a B. Com (Hons) in Accounting from the University of Nairobi, a Diploma in Management from the Kenya Institute of Management and an MBA from the United States International University. He is also a Fellow of the Kenya Institute of Management.

He previously served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Nation Media Group and prior to that was the Group Chief Executive Officer for West Africa for GlaxoSmithKline after having held diverse management positions with them.