User:Gachangi/JM

James Mwangi

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James Mwangi CBS (born 1962) is a Kenyan accountant, banker and entrepreneur. He is the current Group Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer of Equity Group Holdings. Since 2009, he has also been the chairman of the Kenya Vision 2030 Delivery Board.

Background and education
Mwangi was born in Kangema, in Kenya's Central Province, circa 1962. With his father killed in the Mau Mau conflict, he and his six siblings were raised by their widowed mother Grace Wairimu. He attended Nyagatugu Primary School in Kangema Village, going on to attend Ichagaki Secondary School on a government scholarship. For his A-level education, he attended Kagumo High School, where he studied economics, English literature and geography. He graduated from the University of Nairobi with a Bachelor of Commerce degree, after which he sat and passed the Certified Public Accountant of Kenya (CPAK) examinations. He is also a graduate of the advanced management programme at the IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain.

Mwangi holds five honorary doctorate degrees, including a Doctor of Business Administration from Kenya Methodist University, a Doctor of Humane Letters from Kenyatta University, and a Doctor of Entrepreneurship from the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. He also serves as a guest lecturer at Stanford University, Columbia University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard University, IESE Business School and Lagos Business School.

Career
Mwangi began his career in banking as an auditor at Price Water House but after a short period moved over to Ernst and Young where he worked for three years before he joined Trade Bank. In 1994, he left his job as the group's Financial controller at Trade Bank bank on invitation by the then-senior executives of Equity Building Society (EBS), the precursor of Equity Bank, to steer the financial institution from insolvency. James joined Equity Building Society as the Finance and Operations Director, a position he held until 2004 when he became the CEO. Together with the then Managing Director, John Mwangi and the Chairman, Peter Munga, they constituted the board. James converted his Kshs 7 million deposit at the time with Equity Building Society to ordinary shares and effectively this made him the majority shareholder. The company was losing Ksh. 5 million (approx. US$60,000 at the time) annually and, at that time, had accumulated total losses of Ksh. 33 million (approx. US$380,000 at the time). Equity had been declared insolvent by its regulator, the Central Bank of Kenya in 1993. Mwangi was appointed director of strategy and finance, and set about retraining staff with a focus on customer care. He also encouraged them to use their own networks to attract members to the society, and use 25% of their salaries to buy Equity Building Society shares. In 1997, the society began to sell shares to customers and pay annual dividends.

In 2006, Equity Bank listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE). On 18 June 2009, the group's stock cross listed on the Uganda Securities Exchange and began trading tge same day. , the group has subsidiaries in five countries. As of June 2020, Equity Group Holdings is a large financial services organisation in East Africa, with an asset base valued at over Ksh. 746 billion (approx. US$6.87 billion).

In 2010, Mwangi was included in the Financial Times' list of 50 emerging market business leaders.

Personal life
Mwangi is married and has three sons. Together with his wife, Jane Njuguna, they own shares in the stock of Equity Group Holdings and Britam Holdings. As of October 2014, their net worth is estimated at more than Ksh. 12 billion (approx. US$170 million).

Philanthropy and social work
Mwangi is the chancellor of the Meru University of Science and Technology, and the chairman of the Kenya Vision 2030 Delivery Board. He is also the executive chairman of the Equity Group Foundation (EGF), which he founded in 2008.

Wing to Fly
In 2010, under Mwangi's leadership, Equity Bank launched the Wings to Fly initiative, which provides scholarships to needy students in Kenya. Since its inception, a total of 17,304 students have benefited from the program with 633 having joined leading global learning institutions.

In April 2020, Mwangi and his family donated Ksh. 300 million to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) to health workers battling the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya, with EGF matching the donation and the Mastercard Foundation adding Ksh. 500 million for a total donation of Ksh. 1.1 billion.

Notable Awards and Honors

 * Global
 * Winner 2020 Oslo Business for Peace Award.
 * 2019 Bloomberg 50, 2019
 * Forbes African Person of the Year, 2012
 * Ernst and Young’s World Entrepreneur of the Year, 2012
 * International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) Award for Philanthropy, 2012
 * Financial Times’ Top 50 Emerging Market Business Leaders and the 20 Most Influential People in Africa, 2011
 * African Person of the Year Runner Up - Commonwealth Business Council, 2009
 * The G8 Global Vision Award, 2007


 * Regional
 * CEO of the Year - The Africa Investor Awards, 2009 and 2015
 * Africa Investor Awards, CEO of the Year: 2009, 2015
 * African Banker Awards, African Banker of the Year: 2010, 2011, 2018
 * Innovation Leader of the Year- The Africa Investor Awards, 2012
 * Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the Year: 2012
 * Forbes Africa Person of the Year: 2012
 * African Business Leader of the Year - The Africa Investor Awards, 2013
 * Banker Africa (East Africa), Banker of the Year: 2017, 2018
 * ThinkBusiness Banking Awards, CEO of the Year: 2017, 2018
 * The Bloomberg 50 List, Finance: 2019
 * The African Leader of the Year - African Leadership Network, 2012
 * All Africa Business Leader Award - ABN Group and CNBC Africa, 2012
 * National Honours
 * Order of the Burning Spear.svg Chief of the Order of the Burning Spear
 * Order of the Burning Spear.svg Moran of the Order of the Burning Spear
 * Head of State's Commendation (Kenya)
 * Uzalendo (patriotism) Award - a commendation by the President of Kenya, for contribution to the country’s COVID-19 response.

Source: Equity Group Holdings