The Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) Chief Executive Officer Dr Habil Olaka has been named Association Leader of the Year, with KBA taking the runner-up position in the Best Association category during the 2018 edition of Africa Associations Congress awards that were organised by the Association of Association Executives (AAE) last evening in Pretoria, South Africa. KBA was also featured as a case study for best practice in industry communications.
Dr Olaka, who was appointed CEO in October 2010, holds a Doctor of Business Administration
from USIU-Africa, a First-Class Honors BSc degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of
Nairobi, and an MBA in Finance from the Manchester Business School in the UK. His PhD study
focused on the influence of strategic leadership on the implementation of strategy in
commercial banks in Kenya. He is also a member of the Institute of the Certified Public
Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK) and the CFA Institute.
He was previously Director of Operations at the East African Development Bank (EADB) based in
Kampala after serving as the Resident Manager in Kenya. Earlier, he served the bank as the
Head of Risk Management and as the Chief Internal Auditor. Before joining the Bank, he had
worked with Banque Indosuez (now Bank of Africa) as the Internal Auditor. Dr. Olaka started his
career at the PricewaterhouseCoopers, Nairobi in the Audit and Business Advisory Services
Division.
Under his leadership, KBA has evolved and broadened its mandate to include promoting
industry growth and development through research and policy engagement and initiatives
focused on enhancing industry efficiency through digital technology. For instance, KBA’s Centre
for Research on Financial Markets and Policy has earned international recognition since its
establishment in 2012, publishing more papers and articles on banking than any other
institution in East Africa.
Beyond policy influence, Dr Olaka has steered the Association to play a leading role in the
development of the financial services sector, including banking and payments through the
launch of the industry’s first peer-to-peer digital payments platform PesaLink, a 24-hours bankaccount-to-bank-account transfer solution that has moved more than Ksh 87 billion (USD 700
million) in just 17 months since its launch.
READ: KENYA’S MAINSTREAM MEDIA IS IN THE HANDS OF POLITICIANS
“I am happy to be a recipient of this prestigious award. I thank the KBA Governing Council, all
our members and our staff for the commendable effort that has gone into establishing KBA as
a leading industry association. Our vision is to play a key role in supporting industry growth and
development to contribute to Kenya’s sustainable development,’’ said Dr Olaka, thanking
financial sector regulators, partners, and the banking public for confidence in the Association.
Past recipients of the awards include the Institute of Directors in Southern Africa, Association of
Chartered Certified Accountants, and International Association of Young Lawyers.
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