Nasim Devji: CEO Behind Diamond Trust Bank Success

Nasim Devji is the Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Diamond Trust Bank (DTB). She boasts over 25 years of experience working in the financial sector and growing a bank to regional heights.

Nasim has been recognised for her outstanding leadership and capability, She has been ranked among the leading CEOs in Kenya. Her success in the corporate world inspires many youths looking to make it in that world.

Here is her story as told by WoK.

background & Education

Nasim attended high school in neighbouring Tanzania and went abroad for her tertiary education in 1971.

She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales, a Fellow of the Kenya Institute of Bankers, a Fellow of the Institute of Directors (Kenya) and an Associate of the Institute of Taxation (United Kingdom).

Career

Between 1977 and 1979, Nasim served as the Audit Supervisor at Touche Ross & Company (now known as Deloitte Touche & Company) in London, UK. She then proceeded to work as a Group Tax Manager at Imperial Continental Gas Association in London. She held the job for 8 years until 1987. 

For two years between 198 and 1990, she worked as a Financial Controller Resource Co-ordinator at Aga Khan Foundation (U.K). She then worked for Agip (U.K) Limited as a Tax Advisor between 1990 and 1996. 

Nasim returned to Kenya in 1996 and joined the DTB Group as General Manager – Regional Finance Administration. She held the role from 1997 to 2001 when she was appointed Group CEO of DTB in East Africa.

She is a Director of DTB Tanzania, DTB Uganda, DTB Burundi, Jubilee Insurance Burundi and Diamond Trust Bancassurance Intermediary Agency Limited.

She has previously served on the Board of the Nairobi Securities Exchange Limited and as a member of the Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation.

As of March 2019, Nasim Devji was one of five women who serve as chief executive officers at Kenyan commercial banks.

DTB has over one hundred and thirty branches in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Burundi, some of which are 24/7 digital branches.

Devji notes that DTB’s continued expansion in Kenya illustrates the company’s confidence in the country’s economy.

“As DTB, we remain optimistic about Kenya’s economic recovery. We are therefore making strides to be closer to our customers to support them to attain their personal and business goals,” she was quoted by Billionaires Africa.