Eric Muriuki Joins Absa To Lead Pan-African Digital Growth

Eric Muriuki, a former NCBA executive who helped shape some of Kenya’s most prominent mobile-money and digital-lending products, has joined Absa Group as Managing Executive for Pan-African Growth Strategy, Platforms and Digital Ventures.

His appointment comes as African banks expand beyond traditional banking into digital platforms, everyday payments and financial services that reach customers outside conventional bank accounts.

Muriuki brings nearly two decades of experience in Kenya’s banking and digital-finance sector, including his leadership of LOOP DFS. His background aligns with Absa’s efforts to strengthen its regional growth strategy and develop digital ventures that can deepen customer relationships across its markets.

Muriuki’s career includes involvement in the development of several financial products that have transformed how Kenyans save, borrow and make payments. In 2007, he helped design the regulatory settlement model for M-PESA, including the trust-account structure that enabled Safaricom to issue electronic money with regulatory approval.

He later spearheaded the development of M-Shwari, the mobile savings and microcredit service launched in 2012, and contributed to the creation of Fuliza, Safaricom’s mobile overdraft facility introduced in 2019. Fuliza allows customers to complete M-PESA transactions when their balances are insufficient.