Former Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA) Group Head of Business Management Mr. Jeremy Ngunze is now the new CEO of CBA in Kenya which is the largest privately-owned bank in the country. He has replaced Mr. Isaac Awuondo who has moved on to serve as CEO of the CBA Group.

Holder of an MBA from the University of Manchester and a Commerce degree from the University of Nairobi, Mr. Ngunze was previously a senior manager at Standard Chartered Bank in the positions of Executive Director Consumer Banking in Kenya, Gambia and Zambia as well as Senior Manager in Hong Kong before joining CBA.

On his appointment, Mr. Ngunze said “My immediate focus will be to redefine the role of the Kenyan business as the anchor of the Group. We have made significant investments in the last couple of years in technology, people and channels. We need to leverage these investments as well as continue to deepen partnerships with our customers. This will give us the ability to yield consistent results for the bank and increase capacity to ensure that our regional expansion plans come to fruition.”

Outgoing CEO Mr. Awuondo expressed his confidence in Mr. Ngunze saying “We are extremely confident that Jeremy is best placed to take up this position given his extensive experience in the banking industry that spans over 20 years and his excellent leadership qualities.”

CBA recently rebranded its corporate image with a new emphasis on superior customer service in what the bank calls Couture Banking. Last month CBA posted a 47.1 percent increase in half year pre-tax profit to 2 billion shillings.