During this years African Banker Awards, Equity Group Holdings PLC Chief Executive Officer, Dr James Mwangi emerged as the Banker of the Year. The win was a result of driving the growth of Equity Bank through a series of innovations and diversified investment channels.
Equity Bank itself was not left behind and bagged the coveted African Bank of the Year Award. This was due to the Bank’s performance having considerably changed the banking landscape. This was through reaching out to new customers, offering new services, adopting inclusiveness by bringing the unbanked into the banking space, and making use of new technologies.
The win is an addition to a great year Equity Bank has had. They bagged 22 awards during this year’s 2018 Think Business Banking Awards and 5 awards during The Banker Africa (EA) Awards.
Dr James Mwangi has seen great success in his career. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree and is a Certified Public Accountant. He is also not a stranger to awards and has bagged a lot of them over the years.
- In 2009, The Financial Times named Dr Mwangi among the 50 thought leaders of emerging markets. He was also named among the 20 most influential people in Africa.
- He won the 2012 Ernest & Young World Entrepreneur of the Year.
- The Africa Investor Awards named him CEO of the Year in 2009 and 2015. He was also named the Innovation Leader of the Year in 2012. Additionally, he was awarded the African Business Leader of the Year in 2013.
- He was vested with the First Class Chief of the Order of the Burning Spear (CBS) national declaration which is the highest presidential award to a civilian for his outstanding contribution to economic development.
- The African Banker named him African Banker of the Year in 2010, 2011 and 2017.
- He was the inaugural winner of The African Leader of the Year by African Leadership Network in 2012.
- Forbes named him ‘Forbes Person of the Year 2012’.
- He also garnered the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) Award for Philanthropy in 2012.
- Africa Investor Series Awards named him Africa Innovation Leader of the Year in 2012.
- He won the All Africa Business Leader Award by ABN Group & CNBC Africa in 2012.
- He won the Life Achievement Award in Think Business Kenya Banking Awards in 2012.
- During the 4th Banker Africa-East Africa Awards 2017, he was named Banker of the Year.
- He was named CEO of the year by Think Business Awards in 2017.
- Additionally, he was named CEO of the Year in the Ai40 Awards in 2017.
He holds 4 honorary doctorate degrees in recognition of his contributions in the Kenyan society. They are;
- An Honorary Doctorate (Business Administration) from Kenya Methodist University (KeMU) in 2017.
- Honorary Doctorate (Humane Letters) from Kenyatta University in 2007.
- An Honorary Doctorate (Entrepreneurship) from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) in 2008
- Honorary Doctorate (Letters)from the African Nazarene University in 2010.
His contributions include;
- Dr Mwangi serves at the Global Advisory Council for VISA Inc, The Clinton Global Initiative, The G8 New Alliance For Food Security And Nutrition and The Global Agenda Council on New Economic Thinking of the World Economic Forum. It is through these forums that he has been instrumental in shaping global development policies by pushing agendas on Inclusive Finance as well as Global Sustainability.
- He is a member of the G20 Advisory Board of Agriculture and Initiative for Global Development which has brought about initiatives for food sustainability.
- He is a guest lecturer at Stanford, Columbia, MIT, Havard, IESE and Lagos Business School where Equity Bank Business Model is a case study.
Dr Mwangi is also the Chancellor of Meru University College of Science and Technology. He is also the current Chairman of Kenya’s Vision 2030 Board.
Curious about why Equity Bank is doing so well, Here Is All You Need To Know About Equity Bank’s Financial Performance For The First Quarter Of 2018
