Swedish national John Wilson has been appointed Equity’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) for the bank’s East and Southern Africa market. The announcement was done today and followed the institution’s plans to accelerate the digitization of products and services, a feat Equity has managed to push admirably in Kenya.
The new COO has an outstanding and long career in banking and finance, having spent a decade and a half at the World Bank, where he worked at the IFC, a private sector of the World Bank Group and the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development, a public sector arm of the same financial institution.
“John brings international experience and joins a team of highly talented experts who are driving our Equity 3.0 strategy that will see the Group complete digitization and virtualization of the Bank while accelerating our Pan African expansion to 15 countries by 2024. His depth of expertise and understanding of the African financial institutions will be invaluable as the Group takes a leading role in the Africa region,” said Dr. James Mwangi, Managing Director, and CEO Equity Group Holdings Plc.
John will supplement the execution of strategy and operation oversight of the entire business, including the subsidiaries. The Group’s Executive Director Mary Wamae, on the other hand, will focus on leadership and governance of the various business lines. Lastly, Bhartesh will oversee the comprehensive Group enterprise risk management.
The COO, who attended Princeton University where he graduated with a Masters in Public Affairs, will see his position evaluated by the Central Bank of Kenya before he is officially confirmed.
“The Group is accelerating expansion efforts by leveraging on the strength of our brand, and our versatile technology platform through digitization and virtualization. Through our shared services platform, our expansion to new markets is a “plug and play” approach, backed up by a strong, talented team that has invested in making banking an integrated part of everyday lifestyle. John will be a valuable player in this strategy,” concluded the CEO.
