Microsoft poaches Equity Bank fintech guru to head engineering arm

Microsoft has appointed Finserve Africa Managing Director Jack Ngare as the MD, Africa Development Centre (ADC) in Kenya.

Ngare was the brains behind the launch of the Equity Bank subsidiary, which trades as Equitel. It enables customers can access both banking and telecom services from voice, data and SMSs.

He also oversaw the launch of Mkey and the Jenga Payment Gateway, which are based on application programming interfaces (APIs).

With more than 15 years of experience in various business functions, he boasts of a wealth of in-depth knowledge around topics like management, telecommunications, financial services and emerging technology.

Prior to his work at Finserve Africa, Ngare held positions at Stanbic Bank, NIC Bank, as well as spending seven years at British Telecom with assignments in the UK, Saudi Arabia, Peru and Japan.

He holds a Master’s degree in management from Harvard University, a Master’s degree in advanced computer science and a Bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Leicester.

“The ADC is unlike any other existing investment on the continent, helping us better listen to our customers, develop locally and scale for global impact,” says Mike Fortin, corporate vice president at Microsoft and the leader who established the first ADC engineering team in Nairobi.

“We’ve been adding to our team of engineers aggressively, and to have Jack leading this talented group is fantastic.”

ADC engineers are already working with local partners and customers on key issues for Kenya, Africa and the rest of the world.

The ADC, which was launched in May this year, gives Kenyan talent the opportunity to work on cutting-edge technology, creating solutions for local and global impact, while reinforcing the countries’ position as a leading digital innovation hub.

Microsoft engineers in Kenya will able to do meaningful work from their home country, while still being part of a global engineering and development organisation

“This is such an incredible opportunity, to join an organisation that is truly empowering people globally, and in Africa, to achieve more. I can’t wait to start my new journey as managing director and proud to lead such a talented team in Nairobi. I also look forward to welcoming many more talented engineers to the centre as we all embark on this wonderful digital transformation journey,” concludes Ngare.