DAVID ANSELL RETIRES AS EQUITY GROUP BOARD CHAIRMAN AS PROFESSOR ISAAC MACHARIA TAKES ON THE MANTLE

Professor Isaac Macharia has been appointed as the Equity Group Holdings board chairman taking over from David Ansell. The latter did not offer himself for re-election at the   sixteenth Equity Group Holdings’ Annual General Meeting.  Ansell has   retired after serving the board for nine years and he is a long time global banker. He served as the second chairman of Equity Group Holdings’ board having taken over from Dr. Peter Munga (the founder of Equity Bank).

Dr. James Mwangi, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Equity Group Holdings paid tribute to Ansell saying:  “I have personally gained much insight from David’s leadership and especially from his immense knowledge and expertise in asset liability and risk management.” He added that Ansell will always be a valued member of the Equity family.

Isaac Macharia is a professor of ENT (ear, nose and throat) as well as head and neck surgery at the University of Nairobi.  He holds a distinguished career in the medical field including leadership positions in international professional organisations. He consults for the World Health Organization (WHO) in his area of speciality.  Professor Macharia   joined the Equity Bank Kenya board in 2015 and became the chairman in 2017. In this role, he has demonstrated his passion and commitment to the Equity vision of championing the social economic prosperity of the people of Africa.  Significantly, he oversaw the restructuring of the bank to become a subsidiary of Equity Group Holdings.

“The experience as the chairman of Equity Bank Kenya has prepared me adequately for this role. It will be my mission to provide leadership that will guide the group to achieve its ambition to become not only a Pan-African financial services provider but also the best in its class,” said Professor Macharia.  He emphasized  that he will guard the tenets of good and effective corporate governance so that the group can   leverage on the synergies of a diversified board and the deep strength of its executive management team in order to live up to its purpose of being transformative.