Absa Bank Kenya has appointed Yusuf Omari as managing director and chief executive with effect from 10 September 2026, confirming him in the role he had held on an interim basis since 1 July after Abdi Mohamed left to join I&M Bank. Omari joined the lender in 2004, when it operated as Barclays Bank of Kenya, and had served as chief financial officer since 2009; he also led the bank on an interim basis between late 2022 and mid-2023. Board chairman Mohammed Nyaoga said the appointment reflected Omari’s institutional knowledge, market experience and relationships with regulators, and that the board was confident he would strengthen the bank’s competitiveness, deepen customer relationships and deliver sustainable growth.
The bank described Omari as an executive with more than two decades of leadership experience spanning finance, treasury, risk management, governance, sustainability, strategy, transformation and executive management. Before joining the bank he spent about six years at KPMG Kenya, and at the bank he was head of internal audit for the East and West Africa cluster before moving into compliance leadership.
WHAT THE BANK SAID
Saviour Chibiya, Absa Group’s regional executive for East Africa, described Omari as a leader whose track record embodies the group’s values.
Omari said he was honoured by the confidence the board and Absa Group had placed in him, and named deepening customer relationships, accelerating growth and investing in staff as his priorities.