Author: Lorine Otamo

Kenya Airways has a new acting chief executive for the second time in nine months. Habil Waswani, the airline’s company secretary and director of legal services, takes over as acting Group Managing Director and CEO on September 15, replacing Captain George Kamal, who resigned for personal reasons. The announcement, signed by board chairman Kiprono Kittony and dated September 1, follows a pattern that has now repeated twice inside a year: Kenya Airways loses a chief executive, then hands the seat to whoever already sits closest to the boardroom rather than launching an outside search first. A short tenure ends Kamal…

Navin Mahadeo, Head of Cards at Absa Bank in South Africa, has left the bank after four years, closing a chapter that saw him build and run card operations across ten banks on the continent. He has joined PayiNC, an automated clearing house based in Johannesburg that serves national and pan African transactions, as its Revenue Strategy and Growth lead. Mahadeo announced his exit on LinkedIn, thanking colleagues across Absa’s footprint and reflecting on a run that took him from managing card issuing to overseeing cards and payment flows for both Personal and Private Banking, as well as Business Banking,…

Nation Media Group PLC has replaced nearly half its board in one announcement, confirming six new directors while four sitting members step down. The reshuffle, dated 28 August 2026, is the clearest sign yet that Tanzanian billionaire Rostam Aziz intends to run East Africa’s largest independent media house his way. It also closes a chapter that stretches back 66 years. The changes follow the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development’s sale of its 54.08 percent stake in NMG to Taarifa Ltd, Aziz’s investment vehicle, a deal signed in March 2026 at the Serena Hotel in Nairobi. For readers who track…

Minet Group has promoted Sammy Muthui to Chief Executive Officer for the Eastern Africa Region, widening his mandate beyond Kenya while he keeps his post as Minet Kenya CEO. Minet Group CEO Joe Onsando announced the move on August 28, framing it as a step to strengthen regional operations without weakening leadership in individual markets. The company said Muthui will now work alongside country CEOs across the region to build shared expertise and drive growth. “Minet Group is pleased to announce the appointment of Sammy Muthui as Chief Executive Officer for the Eastern Africa Region, expanding his mandate to lead…

Microsoft has named Angela Nganga as its Country Lead for East Africa. She will direct the company’s digital and AI transformation agenda across the region. The appointment ends a leadership vacancy that opened when Phyllis Migwi stepped down as Microsoft’s Kenya Country Manager after three and a half years. Migwi’s tenure included Africa’s largest Global AI Tour conference, hosted in Nairobi, and oversight of a $1 billion digital investment package Microsoft announced with G42. Microsoft opened the search for her successor as it prepared to bring East Africa’s first Azure cloud region and a local data centre online. Nganga takes…

Tanzania’s Vice President, Dr Emmanuel Nchimbi, has resigned from office and announced his retirement from politics, capping weeks of speculation about a rift with President Samia Suluhu Hassan. Nchimbi submitted his resignation letter to Hassan on August 25, 2026, and the president accepted it within hours. The Citizen reported that Chief Secretary Ambassador Moses Kusiluka confirmed the move in a statement, adding that the country would now begin the constitutional process of appointing a replacement. Nchimbi’s departure takes effect on September 4, 2026, less than a year after he was sworn in. He cited Article 50(2)(c) alongside Article 149(2) of…