Kariuki Ngari is the CEO of Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) boasting over 23 years of retail banking experience.
He was appointed SCB CEO in December 2018 following the exit of Lamin Manjang who joined StanChart Nigeria in the same capacity.
Since taking up the role of a CEO, Ngari has been keen on bettering small businesses and introduction of digital solutions such as SC Shillingi platform.
In this article, WoK looks at Ngari’s rise to become the CEO of SCB.
Background and Education
Born and raised in the slopes of Mt Kenya, Ngari is the only boy amongst seven sisters.
The CEO was born to a housewife and a teacher whom he said were humble and equal in things such as education and even allocation of chores.
“He was a very humble guy. I experienced firsthand his Christianity anchored on strong faith and of serving something greater than self: traits that became embedded in our family,” Ngari mentioned.
Ngari attended his primary school education in the village before moving to the city for his secondary school education.
At Nairobi School, the CEO performed well and joined the University of Nairobi to pursue a degree in Economics and Sociology.
Career
Although Ngari is working in the banking sector, his initial dream career was to become a matching band policeman.
He recalled how their father would take them to the Nairobi Show every year and how he was always fascinated by the matching police officers.
“As a young boy, my father used to take his children to the Nairobi Show every year
“I was very impressed by the sight of policemen in a marching band during the night show. I thought growing up to be one of them would be pretty cool,” Ngari said.
However, later on after completing his secondary school education, Ngari went for Finance and Banking.
After graduating from UoN, Ngari worked at a local bank before joining SCB where he served for seven years.
In 2004, he joined ABSA Bank, then known as Barclays Bank, and rose through the ranks to become a Retail Director.
Ngari served at Barclays Bank until 2009 when he rejoined SCB as Head of Consumer Banking in charge of Kenya and East Africa.
He rose to become Retail Head for Africa and later became Global Head of Retail Distribution in Singapore.
Ngari worked on strategies in building the future of Retail Branch and Voice & Virtual landscapes through digitization of the physical channels, as well as revision of branch models and standards.
StanChart CEO
Ngari was named SCB CEO on December 28, 2018.
This was following the exit of Lamin Manjang who had been appointed CEO of Stanchart Nigeria and West Africa region.
Under Ngari’s leadership, the bank has innovated digital solutions such as SC Shilingi Funds platform which was launched in February 2022.
The bank also launched its first ever sustainability efforts dubbed, Sustainability Impact Report (SIR) launched in 2022.
At the same time, 17 SCB branches have been certified as single-use plastic free, while parity on the Board has improved from 23% in 2019 to 45% at the moment.
“It is important for leaders to realise that leadership is a privilege and not a right, hence leaders ought to utilise their time best in doing good, since the decisions they make impact millions of people,” Ngari said.
