Africa has immense business potential and opportunities despite market competition and challenges, including climate change, which affects its agriculture-dependent economies.
Equity Group Managing Director and CEO, Dr James Mwangi, made these remarks during a knowledge exchange session with 30 MBA students (Class of 2025-2026) from Columbia Business School at Equity Centre, Nairobi. The session focused on Equity Group’s business model and the role of the Equity Group Foundation in enabling business growth and expansion across East Africa.
“You can have a successful business in Africa with global investment and shareholding,” Dr. Mwangi said, citing Equity Group’s own business model and shareholder structure. He explained Equity’s holistic tri-engine model, which integrates economic, nature and environmental aspects to drive a sustainable business approach.
“One of our strategies was first demystifying banking by taking the services to the villages with land rovers and also incorporating agency banking in our operations. This is where we used shopkeepers in rural areas to deliver some of our basic banking services. We empowered them with banking apps and mobile phones as well as POS. We Also went digital,” said Dr. Mwangi, explaining how Equity at some point literally used to hawk banking services as happens with daily household items like salt.
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Dr. Mwangi highlighted business opportunities in Africa, citing Africa’s burgeoning youthful population as a major advantage as well as bad politics, inflation, volatility in exchange rates as risks worth considering when setting up.
Explaining how Equity did away with banking barriers to foster financial inclusion, Dr. Mwangi elaborated on how Equity collaborates with various entities to train and empower entrepreneurs. He said this is done through capacity-building initiatives while also de-risking the value chains they invest, thanks to Equity Group Foundation. Dr Mwangi also highlighted how Equity connects these entrepreneurs to regional and global markets.
“Customer trust fuels the Equity brand, which has grown into a global powerhouse. Recently ranked as the second-strongest banking brand worldwide by Brand Finance, Equity’s strong brand appeal has attracted top global talent, enhancing its capabilities, skills and expertise. This global human capital provides a competitive edge by embedding international best practices into the organization,” said Dr. Mwangi.
He said through its Africa Recovery and Resilience Plan, Equity is making a significant impact across Africa, complemented by numerous trade missions throughout East and Central Africa.
The MBA students from Columbia Business School come from diverse study areas including Finance and Investment, Venture Capital and Entrepreneurship, Technology, Media & Consulting and Social Impact and Sustainability. Stephan Meier, the James P. Gorman Professor of Business Strategy and the Chair of the Management Division at Columbia Business School, expressed gratitude for the opportunity to learn from Equity.
“For our students to be global leaders, we always endeavour to take them across the world to meet and learn from thought leaders. To come in Kenya and learn from Equity under the leadership of Dr. Mwangi, who is considered as one of the top thought leaders from Africa, is a great honour and privilege. We are grateful to Equity,” said Prof. Meier, adding that they have learned more on running business in Africa and the opportunities available.
As a thought leader of global repute, Dr. Mwangi was in 2019 appointed to the Colombia Global Centres -Nairobi Advisory Board, which is part of a network of nine global centres associated with Columbia University in New York. The Nairobi Center serves as a regional hub for research and collaboration as part of Columbia University’s strategy to achieve a global presence and links the continent to Columbia’s scientific rigour, technological innovation and academic leadership.
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The Centre provides Columbia students and academics with a base from which to conduct research in and for Africa and works closely with policymakers, governments and African regional institutions.
Besides serving as an IFC Economic Advisor, Dr. Mwangi has also previously been involved with the Clinton Global Initiative, the G8 New Alliance for Food Security & Nutrition and the Global Agenda Council on New Economic Thinking of the World Economic Forum. Dr. Mwangi is a guest lecturer at Lagos business school, MIT, Harvard, Columbia, IESE, and Stanford where the Equity Bank model is a case study.
Rising from a building society that survived insolvency in1994 to rapidly growing and overtaking existing multinationals, Equity is a centre of excellence whose business model is a leading case study in many business schools around the world. In addition, many business schools, organizations and institutions regularly visit the Group for benchmarking exposure to learn firsthand about the brand, its evolution and business strategy.
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