Board Chair

James Mugambi

Mr. James Mugambi is a Founder of Premier Group (the holding company of Premier Credit in Kenya and Uganda) and serves as Managing Director of Premier Credit in Kenya. Prior to setting up Premier Group Mr. Mugambi served as Executive Director of Kenya of Micro Africa Limited – Kenya Operation and Non-Executive Director in the subsidiaries in Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and South Sudan.

He also previously served as the Head of Business Development of Uganda Microfinance Ltd (The Present day Equity Bank Limited). Prior to joining Micro Uganda/Africa, Mr. Mugambi has held various positions of responsibility both in Finance and  Administration in various companies – Camac Kenya Ltd – An American Commodity Trading Company, Air East Africa – A Regional Cargo Airline contracted by Lufthansa Cargo LCAG, Jovenna East Africa Limited – A Petroleum Trading Company from South Africa. He is a qualified accountant (CPA) and holds a Diploma in
Microfinance; and a MBA Finance and Accounting. Mr. Mugambi is a passionate entrepreneur whose commitment is in supporting entrepreneurs to turn their dreams into reality.

Vice Chair

Apollo Noroge

Qualification:

• Graduate of IESE Business School in Spain
• Masters’ Degree in International Business Administration (Finance Option),United States
  International University
• Executive Management- Strathmore Business School
• Bachelor of Science Degree (Hons) in Mathematics and Physics University of Nairobi
• Year of Birth: 1970
• Date of Appointment: 19 December 2016

Experience:

Apollo is an experienced financial executive with over 24 years’ experience in Retail, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Banking across East Africa. He joined Faulu Microfinance Bank Limited as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer.

Prior to his appointment, he was Acting Managing Director, Equity Bank in Uganda, where he also held the positions of Executive Director and Chief Operations Officer. He has held the following positions at Equity Bank in Kenya; General Manager in charge of Business Relationships and Head of Business Growth & Development. He has also worked in African Banking Corporation Limited and Investments & Mortgages Bank.

Apollo’s achievements during his tenure at Equity, were commendable and include: Strategy formulation and implementation which led to the acquisition of a micro finance institution in Uganda and its eventual growth into a fully-fledged profitable bank in the top ten (10). He is also credited with leading the change process for the rollout of a new banking software, documentation of procedures and supporting the team to transition to a commercial bank.

Treasurer

Jane Mwangi

Board Member

Rebecca Amukhoye

Rebecca Amukhoye is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Micro Enterprise Support Programme Trust (MESPT). She is an agriculturalist and business development practitioner with vast experience in the development sector. She has over 20 years of work experience successfully directing impact-oriented programmes that have empowered smallholder farmers on areas of food security, agriculture and enterprise development in Kenya and other East African countries.

Her background is in Agriculture, Rural Development, and Strategic Management. In her career, she has been instrumental in providing leadership, planning, implementing projects, and ensuring that the operations of the organization are aligned to its vision and strategic direction.

Prior to joining MESPT, Ms. Rebecca served as a Country Director and Regional director in a renowned INGO in Kenya and Eastern Africa, respectively

Board Member

John K Kariuki

John K Kariuki (Kenyan) is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of FinCredit® Limited and FinCredit® Uganda Limited. He is also a former Managing Director of AAR Health Services.

He studied at Warwick University, UK and holds a BSc. Honours degree in Applied Mathematics and an MBA. He has over 30 years’ senior management experience covering, the IT industry, healthcare,manufacturing and banking.

He is credited for being among those who pioneered the credit card industry in Kenya and was at one time on the Board of MasterCard forthe Middle East & Africa region.

He is a shareholder of both FinCredit® Limited and AAR Holdings andsits on the Board of the Association of Microfinance Institutions of Kenya(AMFI Kenya). Mr Kariuki is also a member of the Governing Council of the Credit Information Sharing Association of Kenya.

He has previously served on the global Youth Save Expert Advisory Board and its Kenya Country Advisory Board. Youth Save was a project dedicated to developing and testing savings products accessible to low-income youth in Colombia, Ghana, Kenya and Nepal. The Youth Save Consortium included Save the Children, the Centre for Social Development at Washington University in St Louis, the New American Foundation, and CGAP (the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor).

Board Member

Mwangi Githaiga

Mr. Mwangi Githaiga has served the Institution for over two decades and has risen through
the ranks to the Managing Director position. He holds a Masters of Business Administration
degree in Strategic Management from Moi University. He is also a Certified Public
Accountant and a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
He is a visionary leader who has made great strides in championing sustainable
developmental growth initiatives in the Microfinance Industry especially by fostering financial
inclusion to alleviate poverty for low income women and their families with an aim of uplifting
their living standards.
As the Managing Director of KWFT, Mr. Mwangi’s track record of exemplary performance
and through his leadership has grown the Institution from a Deposit Taking Microfinance to a
fully-fledged Microfinance Bank serving over 800,000 clients spread in 45 out of the 47
Kenyan counties. He has also steered development of new, innovative financial products
and services, technological advancements and mobilization of financial resources in line with
the Institution’s strategy.
During his professional life, he has been invited to numerous International, regional and local
forums as a thought leader to share the best practices in microfinance, financial inclusion
and related topics as he has a passion to see improved living standards for low income
financially excluded population. As a result Mr. Mwangi has propelled the institution to global
standards creating a platform for benchmarking for best practice in Microfinance.
Mr. Githaiga has served as the Board Chair of the Association for Micro-finance Institutions
(AMFI) as well as a current board member of KWFT. He is also an active member of
different professional bodies and is a respected and celebrated mentor in Strategy,
Leadership, Business, Finance, Community development and Human Capital Engagements.

Board Member

Adam Kasaine

Adam Kasaine is the CEO of Letshego Kenya (“Letshego Kenya Ltd”)and responsible for developing and executing Letshego’s country strategy in line with the Group’s regional strategy to increase access to simple and appropriate financial solutions for underserved communities across Africa. Letshego is an inclusive finance group which originated in Botswana 20 years ago, is listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange and currently has a footprint in 11 Sub Saharan African markets.Letshego Kenya currently has a team of more than 220 people, and supports more than 26,000 customers in both the government and Micro and Small Entrepreneur (MSE) segments.

Adam joined Letshego in May 2017 and has over 17 years of financial and banking experience, with a specific focus on the SME sector. Prior to joining the inclusive finance group, Adam was the Head of Retail for Bank of Africa, following former senior roles in Consolidated Bank and K-Rep Bank in Kenya. Adam has a Master’s Degree in Strategic Management, BSc Business Administration, a Post Graduate Diploma in Human Resource Management, a Diploma in Business Administration and is currently pursuing a CIMA qualification. Adam is married with two children. He loves playing and watching golf and football.

Board Member

Zayyad A. Said

Mr. Said is an established leader, known for being results-driven, dynamic and highly entrepreneurial.He has vast experience in establishing businesses, building teams, identifying and capitalizing on business opportunities. He has passion for financial inclusivity and technological innovations that solves the world’s biggest problems.

He is the founder and Group CEO of Hazina Development Trust Limited, the first credit only microfinance institution in Kenya operating under the principles of Islamic Finance. Prior to setting up Hazina Microfinance, he served Fursa Leo Limited as the ICT & Operations Manager and last as the General Manager. He has also worked at Fidelity Commercial Bank Limited (currently SBM Kenya) inNairobi rising through the ranks from a Management Trainee to being the Head of ICT.

Mr. Said is also a co-founder and Chairman of Intrasoft Technologies Limited; an ICT solutions company building systems for social enterprises not limited to financial inclusion, education and healthcare. He also serves as a Board Member for Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan Secondary & Technical School, Chairman of Mazrui Cultural & Welfare Society and a Patron at Imara Jamii Organization in Mombasa. His effective involvement with the Coastal communities has earned him stature.

Zayyad is an MBA (Strategic Management) finalist from the University of Nairobi. He also holds aBachelor of Science (Hons) in Software Engineering with Multimedia from Lim Kwok Wing Universityof Creative Technology in Malaysia. He has also acquired certification in Islamic Finance from AlHudaCentre of Islamic Banking & Economics (CIBE) in Dubai.

Philip Ochola

Mr. Ochola is currently the Chief Executive Officer of VisionFund Kenya Ltd, a position he has held since 1^st January 2014. He has held senior management positions in the Micro Finance and Banking sectors for over twenty five years. Before Joining VisionFund Kenya, he served as the Interim CEO for VisionFund Rwanda from January to August 2013 and briefly in the VFI East Africa Regional Office as Deputy Regional Director before joining VisionFund Kenya as the CEO in January 2014.

Prior to joining VisionFund International on 1^st October 2012, he was the Chief Operating Officer of Jamii Bora Bank in Kenya. He also had an opportunity to act as the Chief Executive Officer of the Bank from June to December 2011. He was instrumental in the growth of Jamii Bora from inception in 1999 where he was the Head of Microfinance department until it became a Bank in January 2010.