Polycarp Igathe named MD of Equity Bank Kenya

Five months after joining Equity Group Holdings Plc, Polycarp Igathe has been confirmed and named the Managing Director of Equity Bank Kenya.

This marks the completion of the Group’s strategy of separating the management of its subsidiaries from that of the Holding Company. Dr James Mwangi will now serve as the Group Chief Executive and Managing Director providing overall strategic direction and oversight to the Group.

Speaking while making the announcement, Dr Mwangi said:

“The Board has completed the process of separating the operations and management of the Kenya subsidiary from that of the Group and appointed Polycarp the Managing Director of Equity Bank Kenya. Polycarp’s strong values and passion have enabled him to quickly fit well in the Equity Group organizational culture. He has distinguished himself as a results oriented and committed business leader who is renowned for fostering productive partnerships with external stakeholders and customers, resulting in delivery of outstanding company results. He has taken over a very successful subsidiary and market leader. We believe he has the skills, competence, capability and vision to retain Equity Bank Kenya in its leadership position while taking it to the next level.”

Equity Bank is currently the largest bank in Eastern and Central Africa region with over 12.6Million customers, the largest in market capitalization and the second largest in balance sheet. It is listed at the Nairobi securities exchange and cross listed in Uganda Stock Exchange and Rwanda Stock Exchange. It has banking subsidiaries in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan and DRC.

Kenya led in the implementation of the Group’s digitization strategy that has seen the bank move over 97% of its transactions from the banking halls to self service digital banking tools. The bank pioneered in rolling out agency banking in the region, setting the pace for the other subsidiaries.

The Group’s social impact investments coordinated by Equity Group Foundation have benefited immensely from Equity Bank Kenya’s infrastructure which provides the Foundation with unrivaled implementation capability giving the Foundation a high return on investment.