NSE Board re-appoints Odundo, renames senior positions

Nairobi Securities Exchange CEO Geoffrey Odundo

NAIROBI, KENYA: The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) Board has re-appointed Geoffrey Odundo as the body’s chief executive officer for another 4-year period.

In an announcement made on Friday, the Board also made changes to its senior management team, in line with the the organizational structure.

The Board says Odundo will continue to oversee the implementation of the company’s strategy, especially as it transition into a new strategic plan period from 2020.

In other changes, the Board also appointed David Wainaina as the Chief Operating Officer, David Waggema, Head of Business Development and Loise Wangui as the Head of Regulatory Affairs.

Last year, the Deputy President William Ruto challenged NSE to tap into the private sector to end the listing drought.

Deputy President William Ruto noted that the Government’s privatisation policy had brought to the market key firms such as KCB, Safaricom and KenGen, but the bourse should not overrely on such initiatives for new listings.

“Our understanding is that it must not be a preserve of public companies. We need a mechanism where private companies, which are in their thousands, can join the NSE,” he said.

Reacting to the DP’s call, NSE Chief Executive Geoffrey Odundo said the challenge was ‘valid’ but blamed the listing drought on the capital gains tax and global economic downturn even as he expressed optimism for more listings.

“It is a challenge we are alert to and are keen to strengthen our incubation programme to help identify gaps in listing,” he said, adding that the bourse would reach out to Government to help address this.