Pretoria 31st October, 2018 – The Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) Chief Executive Officer Dr. Habil Olaka has been named Association Leader of the Year, with KBA taking the runner-up position in the Best Association category during the 2018 edition of Africa Associations Congress awards that were organized by the Association of Association Executives (AAE) last evening in Pretoria, South Africa. KBA was also featured as a case study for best practice in industry communications.
Dr. Olaka, who was appointed CEO in October 2010, holds a Doctor of Business Administration from USIU-Africa, a First-Class Honors BSc degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Nairobi, and an MBA in Finance from the Manchester Business School in the UK. His PhD study focused on the influence of strategic leadership on the implementation of strategy in commercial banks in Kenya. He is also a member of the Institute of the Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK) and the CFA Institute.
He was previously Director of Operations at the East African Development Bank (EADB) based in Kampala after serving as the Resident Manager in Kenya. Earlier, he served the bank as the Head of Risk Management and as the Chief Internal Auditor. Before joining the Bank, he had worked with Banque Indosuez (now Bank of Africa) as the Internal Auditor. Dr. Olaka started his career at the PricewaterhouseCoopers, Nairobi in the Audit and Business Advisory Services Division.
Under his leadership, KBA has evolved and broadened its mandate to include promoting industry growth and development through research and policy engagement and initiatives focused on enhancing industry efficiency through digital technology. For instance, KBA’s Centre for Research on Financial Markets and Policy has earned international recognition since its establishment in 2012, publishing more papers and articles on banking than any other institution in East Africa.
Beyond policy influence, Dr. Olaka has steered the Association to play a leading role in the development of the financial services sector, including banking and payments through the launch of the industry’s first peer-to-peer digital payments platform PesaLink, a 24-hours bank-account-to-bank-account transfer solution that has moved more than Sh87 billion (USD 700 million) in just 17 months since its launch.
“I am happy to be a recipient of this prestigious award. I thank the KBA Governing Council, all our members and our staff for the commendable effort that has gone into establishing KBA as a leading industry association. Our vision is to play a key role in supporting industry growth and development to contribute to Kenya’s sustainable development,” said Dr. Habil Olaka, thanking financial sector regulators, partners, and the banking public for confidence in the Association.
Past recipients of the awards include the Institute of Directors in Southern Africa, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, and International Association of Young Lawyers.
About the Kenya Bankers Association:
KBA (www.kba.co.ke) was founded on 16th July 1962. Today, KBA is the financial sector’s leading advocacy group and banking industry umbrella body that represents total assets in excess of USD 40 billion. KBA has evolved and broadened its function to include advocacy on behalf of the banking industry, and championing financial sector development through strategic projects such as the launch of the industry’s first P2P digital payments platform PesaLink. In line with the Government’s policy on public-private partnerships, KBA and Central Bank of Kenya have implemented key projects such as modernization of the National Payments System through the Automated Clearing House, implementing the Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS), and the Kenya Credit Information Sharing Initiative. The KBA members are comprised of commercial banks and deposit taking microfinance banks. For more information, visit www.kba.co.ke or contact KBA Director of Communications and Public Affairs, Nuru Mugambi Email: nmugambi@kba.co.ke
