Our Board of Directors comprises of six highly qualified professionals from the banking, legal and financial advisory sectors whose leadership is instrumental to ABC Bank’s continued growth and success.
Chairman
Mr. Richard Omwela
Mr. Richard Omwela became the Chairman of ABC Bank Group in 2014, taking over from Mr. Ashraf Savani who voluntarily retired from the position. He holds a law degree from the University of Nairobi & a Diploma from Kenya School of Law. He has over 41 years of experience as an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and a senior partner in the leading Nairobi law firm of Dentons Hamilton Harrison & Mathews Advocates. He has been a Director of the Bank since 2000. He is the former Chairman of Kenya Rugby Union (KRU). He is also the past governor of Rotary International District 9212. Mr. Omwela sits on the boards of several other companies. He is also the chairman of WPP Scan Group Limited, National Airport Services Ltd (NAS), Monarch Insurance Limited and Octagon Africa Financial Services Limited.
Non-Executive Director
Mr. Ashraf Savani
Mr. Ashraf Savani is the immediate former chairman of African Banking Corporation Ltd. He has over 57 years of experience in the banking industry and is the founding Managing Director of ABC Bank having started it in 1984 first as a financial institution before converting it to a fully-fledged bank in 1994. He started his banking career in 1964 with Habib Bank Ltd rising to the position of Vice President at Habib Bank A.G. Zurich in 1984, when he left to form Consolidated Finance Company now known as African Banking Corporation Ltd. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree and a Diploma in Banking. In 2012, he was awarded the Life Time Achievement Award in Banking during the Think Business Banking Awards.
Independent Non-Executive Director
Mr. Joseph K Muiruri
Mr. Joseph Muiruri joined our board as a non-executive director in March 2008 and presently chairs the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee. He has over 54 years of auditing and accounting experience. He is an accountant by profession, having qualified as a fellow of Chartered Association of Certified Accountants (UK) in 1976 and is also a Practitioner of Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya. He retired in December 2002 after 35 years working with Ernst & Young East Africa, including 25 years as a partner and was Chairman of the firm from 1996 to 2002. As partner in charge of a large portfolio of major clients, he gained immense auditing and accounting experience. He is now a Financial Consultant and sits on the boards of several other organizations.
Independent Non-Executive Director
Mr. Alban Mwendar
Mr. Alban Mwendar holds a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) degree and a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) degree, both from the University of Nairobi. He is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Human Resources Management of Kenya. He has over 33 years of experience in HR Practice. He served as the Group Human Resources Director of Kenya Airways from 2011 to 2016 when he left to venture in to private practice as a HR consultant. He has held HR positions in other organizations including East Africa Breweries Ltd, British American Tobacco (K) Ltd, KCB Group and Unilever (K) Ltd where he began his career life in 1987. He is a past Vice Chairman of the Kenya Institute of Bankers, former Assistant Chairman – Institute of HR Management of Kenya, and council member of the Agricultural Society of Kenya (ASK).
Group Managing Director
Mr. Shamaz Savani
Mr. Shamaz Savani has a B.A. in Economics and a B.Com in Finance, both from McMaster University, Canada and an MBA from the University of Surrey in UK. He joined ABC Bank in 1997 and was appointed Chief Executive Officer in 2006. He has spearheaded and acted as chief sponsor of the Centralized Banking System implementation with ABC Bank being among the first banks to adopt the one-bank-one-branch concept. Under his leadership, ABC Bank was awarded the ISO Certification in 2008. He also steered the structuring of the Strategic Business Units, a move that has seen the bank improve business efficiency and solidify its market position. He also engineered the expansion in to the East African region by entering the Ugandan market through its subsidiary, ABC Capital Bank-Uganda Ltd, as well as growth in branch network in Kenya. Mr. Shamaz has nearly 31 years of banking experience. He was appointed Group Managing Director of ABC Group in 2010. He is responsible for strategy formulation, policy-making including expansion, innovation and growth for ABC Group which comprises ABC Bank, ABC Capital Limited, ABC Insurance Brokers Limited and ABC Capital Bank Limited (Uganda). The Bank has also received several awards and recognitions in different categories under his leadership. He has also served the Habitat for Humanity Kenya Board as a Board Member since 2014. He is currently serving in the National Steering Committee on Drought established by H.E. President Ruto.
