Equity Group finance director David Thuo Ngata has left the lender to join rival I&M Group in the same capacity, marking the latest executive departure at the country’s second-largest bank.
Other recent management changes at Equity occurred in June when executive director Mary Wangari Wamae retired early.
Mr Ngata, who had been Equity’s finance director since 2018, joined I&M Group as the chief finance officer effective October 16, 2024, according to a notice by the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed lender.
“The board is pleased to welcome Mr Ngata to I&M Group and wishes him the very best in this role,” the lender’s board said in a notice to investors published on Tuesday.
Mr Ngata took up the role that had remained vacant since the exit of Amit Budhdev, who resigned from the bank last December.
He had joined Equity from American Express, where he served in different capacities, the last of which was the head of internal audit and data analytics practice.
He previously worked at consultancy KPMG and a host of other firms in the financial services industry. He has over 25 years of experience in the industry and holds a Master’s degree in business analytics from Carnegie Mellon University and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Nairobi.
His exit from Equity comes hot on the heels of the retirement of Ms Wamae, who had stayed with the company for two decades. Both executives are celebrated figures in the industry.
Equity is yet to announce their replacement, more than three months after the exit, in Ms Wamae’s case, and over a month after Mr Ngata’s departure.
I&M Group, one of the only nine tier-one lenders in Kenya, is among Equity’s rivals, controlling 5.4 percent of the industry market share against Equity’s 12.2 percent.
