Sidian Bank taps KCB’s John Okulo as its CEO

Wednesday, July 22, 2026

Home Authors Posts by Staff Writer

1745 POSTS 0 COMMENTS

Sidian Bank Board Chair James Macharia said Thumbi leaves behind a strong legacy, having led a major transformation of the lender. “Mr. Thumbi has had a distinguished banking career spanning over three decades. During his tenure at Sidian Bank, he led a significant transformation of the business, including significantly growing the Bank’s Trade Finance portfolio, increasing the branch network to fifty branches and expanding digital banking and foreign exchange income streams,” Macharia said. He added that the bank strengthened its operations, improved customer experience, and achieved strong growth under Thumbi, culminating in its elevation to a Tier II bank in September 2025. In the year ended December 31, 2025, Sidian Bank posted a 502 percent jump in net profit to Sh1.73 billion. The growth was driven by higher interest and non-interest income, with net interest income rising by 54.4 percent to Sh4.4 billion, while non-interest income surged by nearly 129 percent to Sh3.8 billion.

News

Sidian Bank taps KCB’s John Okulo as its CEO

Staff Writer - March 27, 2026

About 60 percent of investments will focus on climate adaptation, particularly climate-resilient agriculture and water management technologies, while 40 percent will go towards mitigation efforts such as renewable energy and energy efficiency. Through the facility, KCB will deploy flexible credit products, blended finance structures, and digital lending platforms to scale access to financing for underserved populations. “This is a bold step to scale climate finance. By targeting MSMEs and smallholder farmers, we are ensuring that no one is left behind in the transition to a climate-resilient future,” said Paul Russo. The funding comes as Kenya faces rising climate vulnerability, with over 80 percent of its land classified as arid and semi-arid. These regions frequently experience droughts and floods, causing economic losses estimated at about 3 percent of GDP annually. KCB has been ramping up its green financing efforts, having assessed loans worth Sh578.3 billion for environmental and social risks last year. This brings the cumulative total assessed since 2020 to over Sh1 trillion under its Environmental and Social Due Diligence framework. The bank also disbursed Sh50 billion in green loans in 2025, increasing its green portfolio share to 25.84 percent from 15 percent in 2023, with investments spanning energy transition, blue economy, e-mobility, and climate adaptation initiatives.

News

KCB secures Sh12.5bn for SMEs-linked green financing

Staff Writer - March 27, 2026

With over 20 years of experience in the banking sector, Ngen’o holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) degree from the University of Nairobi. In his new role, Ng’eno will be tasked with driving growth in the bank’s corporate banking segment, leveraging the Group’s scale and capabilities.

News

KCB names Peter Ng’eno new Corporate Banking Director

Staff Writer - March 27, 2026

“The strong performance was supported by the increased frequency of government bond reopenings in the primary market, which boosted activity in the secondary market,” NSE said in a statement. The exchange also recorded a sharp rise in derivatives activity, with total contracts increasing by 698 percent from 6,683 to 53,333. Open interest peaked at 7,620 contracts valued at Sh27.9 million, up from 638 contracts valued at Sh20.5 million in 2024. This growth was driven by the listing of new contracts, including KPLC, LBTY, KEGN, BRIT and KNRE, as well as the introduction of a new market maker. The Board of Directors has recommended a first and final dividend of Sh1.00 per share, comprising an ordinary dividend of Sh0.73 and a special dividend of Sh0.27. The payout is set for July 31, 2026, to shareholders on record as of May 21, 2026.

News

NSE profit jumps 134pc to Sh272.2mn

Staff Writer - March 27, 2026

News

SBM launches app to teach children money skills

Staff Writer - March 19, 2026

News

StanChart net profit down 38pc to Sh12.4bn

Staff Writer - March 19, 2026

News

Equity Group profit after tax up 55pc to Sh75.5bn

Staff Writer - March 19, 2026

News

Co-op Bank increases dividend after recording Sh39.9bn net profit

Staff Writer - March 19, 2026

News

Stanbic raises dividend by 7.3pc to Sh22.35

Staff Writer - March 12, 2026

News

SBM Bank Kenya returns to profit with Kes614mn pre-tax earnings

Staff Writer - March 12, 2026

1...91011...175 Page 10 of 175

MOST POPULAR

General Electric appoints Brenda Mbathi as East Africa CEO

April 2, 2019

RUBIS ENERGIE APPOINTS OLIVIER SABRIÉ AS CEO FOR EAST AFRICA

September 3, 2024

Equity Group Launches Kshs. 678 billion (USD 6 Billion) Regional Private...

March 7, 2022

Coronavirus: Africa joint continental strategy for COVID-19 outbreak

April 2, 2020

HOT NEWS

Gadgets

Unilever Tea Kenya, CrossBoundary Energy and Solarcentury in Landmark Solar Deal

News

Siemens creates opportunities for digitalization skills development across Africa

Main Story

“I bake cakes to spread joy” -Carol Musyoka

Gadgets

African Artists and Youth Uniting in African Union (AU) Pledge for...

EDITOR PICKS

Africa’s leading electric vehicle (EV) and clean energy infrastructure platform, today announced the successful closing of its latest funding round at $270 million. This milestone follows a newly finalized $55 million investment from NewTrails Capital, a prominent Chinese growth-stage investment fund focusing on emerging markets with strategic locations in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Nigeria. Scaling Africa’s next-generation mobility and energy ecosystem This capital injection positions Spiro among the continent's most heavily backed Africa’s e-mobility and energy ecosystem. Building on the support of long-standing institutional partners such as FEDA, Spiro’s latest equity round also draws global capital from Europe and Africa, Impact Fund Denmark, Equitane and FEDA, on top of the recent backing from Nithio and the Africa Go Green Fund. "I would like to thank NewTrails Capital for believing in Spiro’s model and supporting our unique tech, energy and innovation journey. Having deployed 100,000 electric vehicles and 2,500 smart-swap stations across seven active markets, Spiro has firmly moved past the proof-of-concept phase. Partnering with NewTrail Capital’s deeply experienced team marks a powerful new chapter for Spiro as we prepare for the next steps of our pan-African and international expansion”, stated Gagan Gupta, Founder of Spiro and Chairman of Equitane. Yufan Zhang, Founding Partner of NewTrails Capital, added: “We believe Spiro is driving a profound “energy revolution” across mobility use cases in Africa. This represents not only a vast and highly imaginative market opportunity, but also the potential to grow into an infrastructure-like business that creates meaningful commercial, social, and environmental value. In our view, Spiro’s core strengths lie in its deeply localized operating capabilities, vertically integrated supply chain, digitally enabled ecosystem, sound unit economics, and strong ability to scale rapidly. More importantly, Spiro has systematically integrated vehicles, batteries, energy replenishment, payments, and service networks into a solution that is truly tailored to the needs of African users, effectively addressing long-standing structural pain points in the local market. As a Chinese fund committed to investing in Africa’s energy transition and green technology, we are also very encouraged to see Chinese supply chains and financing playing an increasingly important role in this process. Spiro is still a young company, and everything today is only the beginning. We look forward to continuing to fulfill our role as a long-term investor, contributing our resources and experience, growing together with Spiro, and helping accelerate Africa’s new energy transition.”, This partnership will be instrumental to support Spiro’s current manufacturing and supply chain localisation effort on the continent in particular with Chinese suppliers.

Spiro secures $55M additional backing from Chinese investor NewTrails Capital

July 10, 2026

Radisson Hotel Group (RHG) (www.RadissonHotels.com) is helping drive a new era in healthcare meeting planning, contributing to the industry’s evolution from operational event delivery to a structured, strategic discipline focused on improving scientific exchange, decision-making, and healthcare outcomes. The findings emerge from the Radisson Hotel Group Knowledge Exchange: Healthcare Planning, Design and Strategy Summit held in Florence, Italy, where 75 experts from across the pharmaceutical, healthcare agency, and venue production sectors came together to explore the future of healthcare meeting design. Built to drive tangible outcomes, the two-day summit centered on collaborative working sessions and practical workshops that translated industry insights into actionable frameworks, rather than a traditional conference format. The resulting report identifies a clear industry shift: healthcare meetings are increasingly being recognized not as standalone events, but as strategic communication systems that require structured design, measurable methodologies, and continuous improvement. “Healthcare meetings are no longer simply logistical exercises—they are strategic communication platforms that can drive measurable educational, scientific, and organizational outcomes,” said Muriel Poulenc, Senior Director, Sales Strategy at Radisson Hotel Group. “Across the industry, we are seeing growing recognition that better outcomes require more than flawless execution. They require structured design, integrated workflows, and a more deliberate approach to how meetings are planned, delivered, and measured. The organizations embracing this shift will be best positioned to create meaningful impact.” Healthcare meeting design is becoming a discipline A central theme emerging from the Florence summit is the growing professionalization of healthcare meeting planning. As regulatory requirements, stakeholder expectations, and organizational complexity continue to increase, the industry is moving toward shared methodologies, frameworks, and measurement systems that support more consistent and effective outcomes. Building on discussions first initiated at the 2025 Knowledge Exchange, participants worked to translate industry insight into practical, repeatable tools designed to improve meeting effectiveness, compliance, and stakeholder engagement. The report argues that healthcare meetings should no longer be viewed as isolated events, but as intentionally designed systems that support learning, collaboration, and decision-making across the healthcare ecosystem. The healthcare meeting planner is becoming a decision architect As healthcare meetings become more complex, the role of the planner is evolving beyond coordination and logistics. The report highlights the emergence of meeting planners as strategic decision architects, responsible for aligning stakeholders, structuring workflows, and helping organizations make better decisions throughout the planning lifecycle. Workshop discussions revealed that many organizational challenges, including delays, inefficiencies, and rework, are often the result of fragmented decision-making rather than execution shortcomings. Participants concluded that better meetings depend on better decision structures, greater alignment, and earlier strategic involvement from planners. AI won't fix healthcare meetings. Better systems will While artificial intelligence (AI) continues to dominate industry conversations, the Florence summit challenged the assumption that technology alone will solve healthcare meeting challenges. According to discussions and data presented during the summit, while AI adoption across the industry is high, relatively few organizations are achieving its full value. Participants agreed that the real challenge is not technology adoption, but the integration of AI into coherent workflows, governance models, and decision-making systems. The report identifies fragmented processes, disconnected workflows, and inconsistent planning structures as some of the industry's most significant barriers to progress. In many organizations, as much as 40–60% of planning activity remains focused on non-value-creating work. To address these challenges, RHG advocates for the adoption of structured methodologies, including Lean Six Sigma, Agile, and Sprint thinking, to redesign healthcare meeting planning around flow, efficiency, and measurable outcomes. Build. Measure. Learn. One of the report's key contributions is the introduction and exploration of the Meeting Flow Efficiency Ratio (MFER), a framework designed to measure the balance between value-creating activity and reactive planning effort. The model demonstrates how organizations can increase productive planning time by improving workflow design, reducing friction, and creating greater alignment across teams and stakeholders. The report also reinforces the need to move beyond one-off event thinking toward a continuous engagement model. This evolution is particularly important given the report's finding that 66% of healthcare professionals change their clinical practice or prescribing behavior following participation in industry-sponsored symposia, highlighting the significant influence healthcare meetings can have on professional decision-making and patient outcomes. An industry ready to evolve A panel featuring senior leaders from Inizio Engage XD, MCI, Emota, and Open Audience reinforced the report's conclusions. Drawing on longitudinal industry data spanning 2018 to 2026, the panel identified a common challenge: not structural failure, but structural inertia. While participation remains strong and investment continues, many traditional meeting formats have failed to evolve alongside changing expectations and technological capabilities. The report concludes that the future of healthcare meetings will belong to organizations that combine methodology, intelligent orchestration, and strategic design to create more impactful, measurable, and scalable engagement. By combining sector expertise, collaborative industry engagement and methodology-driven approaches, Radisson Hotel Group continues to support the advancement of healthcare meeting design and contribute to the ongoing development of the discipline globally.

Radisson Hotel Group shapes the future of healthcare meeting design

July 10, 2026

Irish and Kenyan Scientists Collaborate on Dairy Research

July 10, 2026

Third Africa Islamic Finance Forum Confirmed for Nigeria March 2018

March 23, 2018

EABL signs lease deal for office space in upcoming Garden City...

March 14, 2018

Facebook Introduces Messenger Rooms and More ways to connect

April 27, 2020

Staff Writer

Sidian Bank taps KCB’s John Okulo as its CEO

KCB secures Sh12.5bn for SMEs-linked green financing

KCB names Peter Ng’eno new Corporate Banking Director

NSE profit jumps 134pc to Sh272.2mn

SBM launches app to teach children money skills

StanChart net profit down 38pc to Sh12.4bn

Equity Group profit after tax up 55pc to Sh75.5bn

Co-op Bank increases dividend after recording Sh39.9bn net profit

Stanbic raises dividend by 7.3pc to Sh22.35

SBM Bank Kenya returns to profit with Kes614mn pre-tax earnings

MOST POPULAR

General Electric appoints Brenda Mbathi as East Africa CEO

RUBIS ENERGIE APPOINTS OLIVIER SABRIÉ AS CEO FOR EAST AFRICA

Equity Group Launches Kshs. 678 billion (USD 6 Billion) Regional Private...

Coronavirus: Africa joint continental strategy for COVID-19 outbreak

HOT NEWS

Unilever Tea Kenya, CrossBoundary Energy and Solarcentury in Landmark Solar Deal

Siemens creates opportunities for digitalization skills development across Africa

“I bake cakes to spread joy” -Carol Musyoka

African Artists and Youth Uniting in African Union (AU) Pledge for...

EDITOR PICKS

Spiro secures $55M additional backing from Chinese investor NewTrails Capital

Radisson Hotel Group shapes the future of healthcare meeting design

Irish and Kenyan Scientists Collaborate on Dairy Research

POPULAR POSTS

Third Africa Islamic Finance Forum Confirmed for Nigeria March 2018

EABL signs lease deal for office space in upcoming Garden City...

Facebook Introduces Messenger Rooms and More ways to connect

POPULAR CATEGORY