KCB Group has named Paul Russo as its new Group Chief Executive Officer.

Russo, who until his appointment was Managing Director of National Bank   a subsidiary of KCB takes over from Joshua Oigara who ends a stint of nearly a decade with the financial institution.

Oigara’s term at KCB was initially expected to run through to December 2022 after a one-year extension at the end of last year.

He is however expected to remain  at the helm of the bank until the end of the year to support the transition.

While confirming the changes, KCB Group board lauded Oigara for growing the lender to a regional leader in banking.

“The board acknowledges Joshua’s immense contribution in driving the Growth of the Group business over the decade. He has been instrumental in deepening financial inclusion and social impact across East Africa,” the bank noted.

During his term, Oigara oversaw KCB’s regional expansion which includes the acquisition of banks in Tanzania and Rwanda(Banque Populaire du Rwanda(BPR).

He also oversaw the acquisition of the National Bank of Kenya (NBK) that was struggling with bad debt. 

Russo has over 20 years of experience in executive roles including serving as Group HR Director.

He holds a Masters in Business Administration from Strathmore University Business School and a Bachelor’s in Business Management from Moi University.

Kris Senanu is set to quit his role as Safaricom’s Chief Enterprise Business Officer at the end of May.

Senanu's exit was announced by the firm boss in an internal memo which has further disclosed the appointment of Joseph Wanjohi to take up the post on interim capacity.

Senanu a renowned panelists at the Lions Den had joined the Safaricom on June last year and was tasked with developing the enterprise business first and second missions.

“During his time, he has re-established and enhanced Safaricom as a leader in the enterprise space, grown the mobility business and initiated digital transformation initiatives to enable SME DIY platforms. Kris also worked to reduce the Enterprise fixed churn,” noted Safaricom Plc CEO Peter Ndegwa.

Prior to joining Safaricom, Senanu worked for Telkom Kenya where he served as Telkom Digital Managing Director.

He has also worked for AccessKenya Group and Swift Global.

Senanu holds a Master's Degree in Business Administration from the Warwick Business School and a Bachelor’s degree from the United States International University (USIU).

Kenya Power has announced plans to lay off 2,000 employees who are largely ageing as it seeks to replace them with a youthful and cheap employees.

According to the power firm acting chief executive officer Rosemary Oduor, the phased voluntary employee separation (VES) exercise will send home 20% of  employees and replace them with 830 younger staff at a cheaper cost.

“The company, because of low attrition rate, has an ageing and expensive workforce resulting in staff cost growing at nearly twice the rate of revenue growth,” Oduor said in an internal memo dated January 24.

The programme is set to kick off in May through June 2023 and will see the current Kenya Power employee count of  at least 10,000 fall to  8,711.

Additionally, the mass lay off will save Kenya Power of an estimated Ksh5.3 billion.

“In an environment where low operational costs and agility are critical requirements, productivity and quality of service have been negatively impacted,” Oduor further noted.

“This calls for the company to put in place a human capital focused on a business sustainability plan that will enhance effective customer engagement, manage staff costs and infuse agility while at the same time managing knowledge transfer.”

Earlier last week, KPLC announced its search for a new Managing Director following the exit of Bernard Ngugi in August last year two years after his appointment as the firm's boss.

Following his exit, the company's General Manager for Commercial Services and Sales Rosemary Oduor was appointed on an interim basis.

Ithau is also set to join the board of the company as Executive Director with both roles taking effect on March 14.

She joins the firm from Stanford Institute for Innovation in Development Economics where she has been serving as its Regional Director for Sub-Saharan Africa.

She previously served as a Non-Executive Director at WPP Scangroup Plc between 2017 and 2020.

Ms Ithau currently sits in several company boards including retail chain Vivo Activewear, the Vodafone Foundation, Absa Bank Kenya, Jambojet and TradeMark East Africa.

She is also an Advisory Council Member for the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA).

She replaces Bharat Thakrar who was suspended as the firm’s CEO in February last year and resigned later in March on allegations of gross misconduct.

“WPP Scangroup is Kenya’s foremost marketing and communications network. I’m so excited by the opportunity to lead a company that prides itself on delivering outstanding work and creative innovation for clients,” said Ms. Ithau.