Dr. James Njuguna Mwangi is a Kenyan accountant, career banker, businessman and entrepreneur. He is the current Group managing director and Group chief executive officer of the 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. Mwangi was included among The Financial Times' 2009 list of the top 50 thought leaders of emerging markets, and among the top 20 most influential people in Africa. James Mwangi is also the current chairman of Kenya Vision 2030 since 2009.
Dr. Mwangi started his career in banking as an auditor. In 1993, he was invited by the then senior executives of Equity Building Society, the precursor of Equity Bank, to steer the financial institution from insolvency. The company was losing KES 5 million annually and had, at that time, accumulated total losses of KES 33 million. Mwangi, aged about 31 at the time, took up the position of director of strategy, mandated with the turnaround of the company. He began by motivating the 27 staff members to give better customer care to the 27,000 customers they had then. He also encouraged them to use 25% of their salaries to buy EBS shares. When things began to brighten up at EBS, the society began to sell shares to customers and to pay annual dividends in 1997. In 2000, the society computerized their operations. They were able to raise more capital and attract more customers. On 31 August 2004, Equity Building Society became Equity Bank Kenya. In 2006, Equity Bank listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange. On Thursday 18 June 2009, the Group's stock cross listed on the Uganda Securities Exchange and started trading that day, under the symbol: EBL., the bank group has subsidiaries in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and South Sudan. As of March 2019, Equity Group Holdings Limited was a large financial services organisation in East Africa, with an asset base valued at over $5.98bn, with a total customer base in excess of 12.4 million, in the region the group serves
Personal Life and Net Worth
James Mwangi is a married father of four sons. He and his wife, Jane Wangui, own shares in the stock of Equity Group Holdings Limited and of British American Insurance Company Limited, making the family one of the wealthiest in Kenya. Their net worth was estimated at upward of US$170 million as at October 2014.
Philanthropy and Social Work
James Mwangi is the Chancellor of Meru University of Science and Technology, and the Chairman of Kenya's Vision 2030 Delivery Board. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Equity Group Foundation, which creates financial and operation infrastructure for social programs aimed at low-income populations.
Awards
In 2012 James Mwangi was named Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the Year. He has also won numerous awards including: