Born in 1962, James Njuguna Mwangi is a Kenyan accountant and entrepreneur extra-ordinaire.
He is currently the CEO of Equity Group Holdings Limited, the banking conglomerate with the largest customer base on the African continent, in excess of $12.4 million as of June 2018.
James Mwangi is presently the chairman of Kenya Vision 2030, the office he assumed since 2009.
By spotting potential at the bottom of Kenya’s economic pyramid, Mwangi has taken Equity Bank from bit-player to market maker in the thriving financial sector. Not stopping there, Mwangi used this momentum to turn Equity Bank into a leading player in the mobile-money space, as well as expanding into regional markets, like South Sudan and the DRC, becoming Kenya’s most international bank in the process.
Mwangi holds five honorary doctorate degrees; a Doctor of Business Administration from Kenya Methodist University; Doctor of Humane Letters from Kenyatta University; Doctor of Entrepreneurship from the Jimi Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology; Doctor of Business Management (Honours Causa) from Meru University of Science and Technology; and a Doctorate of Letters from Africa Nazarene University.
The 58-year-old business executive has several laurels to boast of in his laudable career. Some of the awards and recognitions he has received both in Africa and on global stage are: Winner 2020 Oslo Business for Peace Award, 2019 Bloomberg 50, 2017, 2018 Banker Africa (East Africa), Banker of the Year, 2010, 2011, 2018 African Banker Awards, African Banker of the Year, amongst others. He was also conferred upon with a national honor of Chief of the Order of the Burning Spear.
