Stanbic Bank has raided Safaricom PLC, recruiting senior executive Michael Mutiga as its new CEO effective 1st August, as the fight for top talent to reshape Kenya's digital finance hots up. 

Until his appointment, lawyer Mutiga served as a senior strategy executive at Safaricom PLC and his career journey to the banking sector marks the second major Kenyan lender to poach the telco giant in just five months.

In a market update on Thursday, Stanbic Bank Kenya said Mutiga's appointment is subject to regulatory approval.

His appointment comes just months after rival lender Absa Group tapped M-PESA Africa managing director Sitoyo Lopokoiyit to steer its personal and private banking arm across the continent.

Shift in banking 

Mutiga and Sitoyo's hires signal ongoing shift in the banking industry as the competition between established banks and emerging digital innovation open a new frontier for the financial services industry growth.

Mutiga, who joined Safaricom in 2022 as Chief Business Development and Strategy Officer, returns to banking after four years at the telco. He had previously spent 15 years at Citibank, rising to managing director and head of corporate finance for sub-Saharan Africa.

Stanbic said Mutiga’s experience in strategy execution, corporate finance and transformation would position the bank for its next phase of growth. 

“The board is confident that Mr Mutiga’s proven track record in the banking sector, strategy execution and transformation will position Stanbic Bank for its next phase of growth,” the bank said in a notice.

In February, Absa Group announced the appointment of Lopokoiyit as Chief Executive of Personal and Private Banking, effective 1st April. 

Lopokoiyit had been managing director of M-Pesa Africa since 2021, overseeing the platform’s evolution from a payments utility into a financial super-app serving 56 million customers and 5 million businesses across the continent.

“This appointment demonstrates Absa’s strategic focus on delivering integrated, customer-centric solutions across our personal and private banking franchise while unlocking new growth opportunities,” explained Kenny Fihla, Group Chief Executive of Absa Group.

Kenya’s banks have long relied on deposit growth and lending margins, but mobile-money platforms led by M-Pesa have steadily captured the customer interface, controlling daily transaction flows and accumulating valuable behavioural data.

Mobile wallet key point of interaction

For millions of users, mobile wallets, not bank apps, are now the primary point of financial interaction.

That dynamic leaves traditional lenders facing a strategic risk: becoming regulated balance-sheet providers while fintechs and telecom platforms own the customer relationship. Absa’s recruitment of Lopokoiyit and Stanbic’s hiring of Mutiga represent deliberate counter-moves.

Mutiga brings a complementary skillset to Stanbic Bank. At Safaricom, he led business development and transformation, including strategic partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, funding strategy and asset optimisation. 

Safaricom recruited him at a time it sought regulatory approval to venture into savings and unit trust investment products, broadening M-Pesa into a full-service financial platform which it is today.

Across the financial services industry, fintech platforms are seeking cheaper funding and regulatory shelter, while banks are searching for digital agility and relevance. 

Absa and Stanbic appear to be betting that importing telecom leadership is faster, and perhaps more effective, than trying to engineer that transformation internally.

Mutiga will be succeeding Abraham Ongenge, who has served as acting chief executive since March. Ongenge will return to his substantive role as Head of Private and Personal Banking.

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