Absa Bank Kenya confirmed Yusuf Omari as Managing Director and CEO from 10 September 2026, after 17 years as CFO.

Absa Bank Kenya has named Yusuf Omari its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, effective 10 September 2026. The board says the regulatory and internal approvals are done. In Kenya that means the Central Bank of Kenya has cleared him, because CBK vets anyone who runs a licensed bank.

Omari has been running the bank since 1 July anyway, on an interim basis. He stepped up when Abdi Mohamed resigned on 30 June to take the top job at I&M Bank Kenya, as we reported in June.

Twenty-two years in the building

Omari joined in 2004, when this was still Barclays Bank Kenya, after about six years at KPMG Kenya as an auditor and head of compliance. He ran internal audit for the East and West Africa cluster, then became chief finance officer in 2009 and stayed in that seat for 17 years. The interim MD job is familiar too: he did it once before, from 1 November 2022 to 30 April 2023, after Jeremy Awori left for Ecobank and before Mohamed started in May 2023. He has an economics degree from the University of Nairobi, an MBA, and is a fellow of ICPAK.

What he inherits

Absa Bank Kenya made KES 10.5 billion after tax in the six months to June, down from KES 11.7 billion a year earlier, as lower interest rates cut into lending income. Revenue was KES 29.3 billion, total assets KES 558.1 billion, customer deposits KES 380.7 billion and the loan book KES 329.9 billion. Return on equity was 21.7%. The board still raised the interim dividend to KES 0.50 a share from KES 0.20.

The shareholder register changed this year too. Absa Group in Johannesburg offered KES 34.50 a share to lift its stake from 68.5% to 85%. Only 2,045 shareholders sold. The group ended up at about 72% when the offer closed on 11 August, said it will not come back for the rest, and Absa Bank Kenya stays listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.

While Omari was interim boss the bank signed a KES 4 billion distributor financing programme with Unilever and a vehicle and tractor financing deal with Simba Corp.

Chairman Mohammed Nyaoga said the appointment “reflects his proven ability to lead, deliver sustainable growth and create long-term value”. Saviour Chibiya, Absa’s regional executive for East Africa, and Omari himself said similarly general things in the announcement. The bank did not set out a mandate for Omari beyond continuity, and did not name a chief finance officer. He has held that job since 2009 and cannot keep both. Third quarter results are due before the end of November, the first set he presents as the confirmed boss, and the first place a permanent CFO would normally show up.