George Odhiambo Takes Over as National Bank MD

George Odhiambo has been appointed by KCB Group as the new Managing Director of National Bank of Kenya (NBK). Odhiambo has for the past five years been running KCB’s banking subsidiary in Rwanda.

Odhiambo was appointed Managing Director of KCB Bank Rwanda in 2017, and in April 2022 took charge of BPR Bank Rwanda Plc – the entity resulting from the merger of KCB Rwanda and Banque Populaire du Rwanda (BPR).

He was replaced at BPR Bank Rwanda by Patience Mutesi, whose appointment was confirmed on Thursday, January 26th. KCB Group had announced that Odhiambo would be assigned other duties within the organization following Mutesi’s appointment.

At NBK, Odhiambo replaces Peter Kioko who took over in an acting capacity in June last year following the appointment of Paul Russo, the former NBK MD, as CEO & MD of the KCB Group. Russo replaced long-serving KCB Group CEO Joshua Oigara in May last year.

Kioko was the the Director, Finance and Strategy at NBK, having joined the bank in November 2016.

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Odhiambo joined KCB Rwanda in 2009 as head of the business analytics and transformation project, before being promoted to head of Retail Banking in 2013 and to managing director in 2017.

BPR Bank Rwanda board chairman George Rubagumya credited Odhiambo for his role in the lender’s growth during his time at the helm. BPR Rwanda Plc is currently the second-largest lender in Rwanda behind Bank of Kigali. The KCB merger, however, made BPR Bank Rwanda the largest bank in Rwanda by footprint, with 154 branches spread across the country.

“On behalf of staff, management, and board, I would like to thank George for his undivided commitment during his time as Managing Director. I believe we are in a strong financial position to foster our desired momentum in the coming years. I wish him all the best in his future endeavours,” Rubagumya shared.

Odhiambo is the holder of a Bachelors degree in Statistics as well as a Pure Mathematics Masters degree from the University of Nairobi (UoN).

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