Molly Wasonga CIO, Tech Writer

Prudential PLC has announced the appointment of Gwen Kinisu as the CEO of its Kenya’s branch (PLAK) in a raft of changes made across the leadership positions of the firm across its footprints globally. Kinisu takes over from Raxit Soni who presided over a period of growth for PLAK and a series of impactful community activities during his seven-year tenure at the firm. She has over 14 years of experience in insurance and banking. She was the Chief Commercial Officer for PLAK since 2018 and during her tenure drove continued growth in the business and built strong relationships with banks, brokers, and other partners. The changes have since seen the former CEO of Prudential Uganda, Arjun Mallik, promoted to lead Eastern and Central Africa, overseeing operations across Kenya, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. Besides East and Central Africa, Prudential also has established a presence in Francophone Africa, Western and Southern Africa, and Northern Africa.

HF Group Plc has appointed Prof. Olive M. Mugenda as an Independent Non – Executive Director and Chairperson of the Board with effect from 21st October 2021. Mugenda is a seasoned leader, academic researcher and administrator with specialization in Women/ Girl’s Education, Research Methods and Statistics, Leadership and Governance. She is also an accomplished author and business leader, responsible for the expansion and transformation of Kenyatta University which saw the institution grow in both stature and financial strength. She is also credited with the establishment and operationalization of Kenyatta University Referral Hospital, a 500-bed referral facility. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Iowa State University, USA. An MBA from the Eastern and Southern Africa Management Institute, (ESAMI), Arusha, Tanzania. Master of Science (M.Sc.), Iowa State University, USA and Bachelor of Education (First Class Honours), University of Nairobi. Currently, she serves as the Chairperson of Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral & Research Hospital and a Commissioner at the Judicial Service Commission (JSC). She also serves as a Non-Executive Director at UBA Kenya Bank Ltd. She was the Vice-Chancellor of Kenyatta University for 10 years – between 20 March 2006 to 20 March 2016.

Ezra Chiloba, the former IEBC Chief Executive, will now be at the helm of Communications Authority, after being appointed as the new Director General. In a press release made by the Authority, it was noted that Chiloba will serve in the position for a renewable period of four years, and that Chiloba will fill the vacancy left following Francis Wangusi’s retirement. Chiloba is a policy consultant and Principle Partner with Chil and Kemp consultancy and an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya. He is the immediate former Chief Executive Officer of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission. He also holds an undergraduate degree in Law from the University of Nairobi a Master of Arts degree from Central European University in Hungary and a Master of Science degree in Program Management from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. A postgraduate diploma in law holder from the Kenya School of Law, Chiloba also holds a certificate in Blockchain strategy program from Said Business School at the University of Oxford. Previously, Chiloba worked as a Team Leader and Deputy Chief of Party with Development Alternative Inc. He was previously a Projects Analyst in charge of governance, electoral systems and processes with the United Nations Development Program in Nairobi.

Airtel Africa, the African arm of India’s Bharti Airtel, has appointed Segun Ogunsanya to take over from Raghunath Mandava as the company’s CEO. He officially takes over his new role in October 2021 and also joins the Board of Airtel Africa. Ogunsanya joined Airtel Africa in 2012 as the Managing Director, a role he has retained throughout his nine-year tenure. He was also leading Airtel Nigeria, the company’s largest African market, from the get-go. He has more than 25 years of business management experience in banking, consumer goods, and telecoms. Before joining Airtel in 2012, Segun held leadership roles at Coca-Cola in Ghana, Nigeria, and Kenya (as MD and CEO). He has also been the Managing Director of Nigerian Bottling Company Ltd (Coca-Cola Hellenic owned) and Group head of retail banking operations at Ecobank Transnational Inc, covering 28 countries in Africa. He is electronics engineer and also a chartered accountant.

Cellulant has appointed Ashkay Grover its new CEO with immediate effect. Akshay has been holding the position in an acting capacity since May 2021 after taking over from Ken Njoroge, who transitioned from his position to take up new roles at the firm’s board level. With more than 15years of experience focused on the TMT across the EMEA and Asia region, Akshay’s experience spans investing – early and growth stage, portfolio management, strategy, restructuring, and capital raising.

Autochek, formerly Cheki, has as part of its pan-African expansion agenda, appointed Bilhah Muriithi as the Country Manager. Having started her career at Cheki Kenya, Bilhah joins Autochek from NCBA BANK PLC, Digital Business, where she was responsible for running the Carduka portal, an online motor vehicle platform, as the Business Manager. With over 9 years of experience, Bilhah has built her leadership acumen working with digital brands in Kenya. As Country Manager, Bilhah will be responsible for overall oversight of the business, growing the marketplace by ensuring that Autochek has all mainstream car dealers, all auto lenders, all car buyers, all insurance & tracking companies.

MTN Group has hired Burak Akinci to be its new CEO of Simfy (ayoba), as well as appointing a new executive for tax, Troopti Desai. Akinci has relocated from Istanbul to Cape Town and will report to MTN’s chief digital and fintech officer Serigne Dioum in his new position, and he will take responsibility for the instant messaging app ayoba, powered by MTN Group. On joining MTN Group, Akinci has ended a brief 11-month tenure at BiP, another instant messaging app which is powered by Turkish mobile phone operator Turkcell.

Before becoming BiP’s CEO at the end of last year, Akinci had worked at Turkcell for 14 years, starting as a senior marketing specialist in 2007, and working his way up through the ranking, assuming various senior positions including digital communication and advertising services director. Prior to this, Akinci was a brand manager at Dermalogica for two years, before which he co-founded his own trade and marketing company. He brings to the new Cape Town-based role over 20 years’ experience in digital business and technology, as well as marketing.

Desai’s brings experience of labour and immigration law, corporate tax, mergers and acquisitions, tax and tax incentives, corporate governance, tax policy and revenue authority engagement capabilities. She joins MTN from professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in Johannesburg, where she was a partner managing tax matters across Sub-Saharan Africa for London Stock Exchange-listed General Electric. Before joining PwC, Desai was regional tax leader for Sub-Saharan Africa at General Electric, as well as acting as a director of various of the companies’ entities across South Africa.