Absa Bank MD Jeremy Awori steps down

Absa Bank Kenya Plc has announced the departure of its long-serving Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Jeremy Awori.

Awori is expected to step down from his role at the helm of the bank on October 31 to pursue a career opportunity outside the Absa Group.

“I am honoured to have led Absa Kenya in making a difference in our society while achieving significant commercial milestones over the past decade. I am confident that Absa Kenya will scale greater heights going into the future,” Jeremy Awori said in a statement on Thursday.

Subsequently, the board of the bank has initiated the recruitment process to replace the departing CEO.

Jeremy Awori became Absa Bank Kenya CEO (then Barclays Bank Kenya Limited) in February 2013 after ending a four-year stint as the Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bank Tanzania.

Awori had begun his banking career at Standard Chartered in 1999 where he served as an Executive Board Director and the Head of Consumer Banking East Africa.

He held other roles within the Standard Chartered Group including serving as Head of its Consumer Banking unit in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and as the Regional Sales Director for the Middle East, South Asia and Africa.

Jeremy Awori served as the Chairman of the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) between June 2013 and July of 2014.

He holds a Master’s Degree in Finance and International Business from the McGill University.

Awori oversaw the transition of the lender from Barclays Bank Kenya brand to Absa Bank Kenya between 2018 and 2020 as Barclays reduced its stake in Absa Group prompting the brand shift.