KENYA – The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) has announced the appointment of Frank Mwiti as the new Chief Executive Officer.
Kiprono Kittony, the Chairman of the NSE Board, disclosed the appointment in a public notice addressed to the Board of Directors, shareholders, stakeholders, and the public, dated February 19.
Mwiti is expected to assume his new role on May 2, pending regulatory approvals by the Capital Markets Auhority.
He succeeds Geoffrey Odundo, who is set to retire on March 1 after nine years of service.
“The appointment follows a comprehensive and rigorous recruitment process,” Kittony said. He described the incoming CEO as a dynamic and accomplished business leader with over two decades of diverse international professional experience in strategy, governance, business development, risk management, corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, and performance improvement.
Mwiti brings extensive experience to the role. Previously he worked as a Manager, Banking and Capital Markets Advisory at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and EY United Kingdom (UK), as well as an Associate Director, Investment Banking at UBS, UK.
Mr. Mwiti equally served as a Management Consultant, Investment Banking at Deutsche Bank, UK and as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Afrika Kapital, UK, a firm he founded and in which he was involved in advising Deutsche Bank and Lloyds Banking Group on a wide array of financial products including Forex, Equities, Fixed Income, Commodities and Synthetics & Listed Derivatives in London, New York, Frankfurt, Singapore, Moscow and Hong Kong.
Kittony expressed confidence in Mwiti’s capabilities and exceptional experience in frontier, emerging, and developed financial markets.
He noted that Mwiti will play a crucial role in driving the next phase of growth for the NSE and supporting the government’s capital markets agenda.
The Board commended outgoing CEO Geoffrey Odundo for his dedicated service and outstanding performance during his tenure.
Kittony credited Odundo with transforming the NSE into a world-class exchange, introducing globally accepted investment products, cutting-edge technology, and championing sustainability initiatives in the capital market.
To facilitate a smooth transition between Odundo and Mwiti, the Board has appointed David Wainaina as the acting CEO, effective March 2 until May 1, 2024.
Wainaina currently serves as the NSE Chief Operating Officer.
The NSE has been banking on its new incubation programme in a bid to raise the number of companies listed on the stock market, as well as lobbying the government to sell poorly performing State-owned enterprises and additional shares in successful blue chips such as Safaricom and KCB to the public.
The NSE, which has over 60 listed firms, has in recent years suffered a dearth of IPO listings, which are key in introducing new investors into the market.
It has instead seen a raft of listings by introduction, largely limited to small firms under its Growth and Enterprise Markets Segment, which have failed to excite the market much.
This is a departure from the past where the NSE has been waiting on businesses to put their house in order then approach them for listing, a process that has proved slow and sometimes exposed new shareholders and creditors to losses.
The Capital Markets Authority eyed to raise the number of total listed firms by last year to 105 in line with its master plan.
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