Polycarp Igathe moves from Equity Bank to Vivo

Equity Bank Group CEO James Mwangi (right) with outgoing Managing Director Polycarp Igathe at a past event. [David Njaaga, Standard]

Polycarp Igathe has landed another prime corporate job, again, and is rejoining his former employer Vivo Energy as the Executive Vice President in charge of sales across the oil marketing company's operations in Africa.

He is expected to assume the newly created position at Vivo on September 1, leaving his current job as managing director Equity Bank Kenya, where he was reporting to the Group’s chief executive James Mwangi. He had been tipped to eventually succeed the chief executive who is synonymous with Equity Bank.

He joined Equity last year in May after a short stint at City Hall as Deputy Governor of Nairobi County. Igathe has since 2017 jumped from the corporate world to politics and back to the corporate world, each time appearing to get a better job than his previous one.

"I am pleased to announce that Polycarp Igathe will rejoin Vivo Energy as the Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing, a newly created role that is being added to the Vivo Executive Management (VEM),” read a statement from Vivo Energy CEO Christian Chammas.

The announcement comes at a time Equity's Mwangi was beginning to take a back seat in the running of the local subsidiary whose management had entirely been trusted to Mr Igathe. Mr Mwangi, who for a long was the face of the company, had restricted his public appearance to the announcement of results and AGMs.

Uncanny attrition rate

At the time the announcement was made, it was said Igathe was in California, United States, leading an Equity Bank team participating at the Kenya Women in the USA (KWITU) Annual General Meeting and, according to a flyer by the bank, he was expected to deliver a keynote address at the meet.

Now, with the bank on an expansion spree that recently saw it acquire four other banks in South and Central Africa, questions are being asked why Igathe, who had become Mwangi’s favourite potential successor jumped ship, with pointers at his uncanny attrition rate.

"The board has discussed Dr Mwangi’s succession. We have plans -- both short-term and long-term, but we don’t anticipate he’ll leave anytime soon if he is in good health,” Equity Group Chairman David Ansell said two years ago.

Mr Ansell, who has served as president of Citibank Russia, amongst others in the global banking sector, said that contrary to popular opinion about Mwangi’s sway at the bank, the power to make decisions are vested in various committees composed of competent members that make decisions.

Mr Igathe quit his job as the chief executive of Vivo Energy Kenya in 2017 to join politics as Mike Mbuvi Sonko’s running mate for the Nairobi governorship post.

Strained relations

The two were elected and he assumed his job as the deputy governor but lasted only six months and quit in January. Though neither Sonko nor Igathe has spoken about the resignation in a candid manner, there was speculation of strained relations.

Igathe had previously worked at Haco (the consumer goods manufacturer), Coca-Cola, Africa Online and Kenya Breweries Limited.

He will now steer the firm that runs Shell-branded fuel stations across Africa, and whose footprint has just been expanded following a buyout of Engen.

Earlier this year, the company completed a Sh20 billion acquisition of oil marketer Engen, which had operations in eight African countries that substantially grew its footprint across Sub Saharan Africa. Prior to the acquisition, Vivo had a presence in 15 countries but this went up to 23 countries.