Wilfred Musau is a banking executive and former National Bank of Kenya Managing Director and CEO who has joined the Nation Media Group board as an Independent Non-Executive Director, adding more than two decades of experience across Kenya’s banking sector to the media company’s leadership.
NMG announced on August 28 that it had appointed Julie Gichuru, Julius Kangogo Kipng’etich, Juliana Rotich, Georgia Mutagahywa, Bharat Thakrar and Wilfred Musau to its Board of Directors.
The six new directors took up their positions on August 28, following the completion of a recent transaction involving the media company.
Wilfred Musau Education
Wilfred Musau holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Banking and Finance from Kenyatta University. He also undertook further professional training in banking, including programmes in advanced corporate banking, SME banking and retail banking.
His professional development included a Master’s Class certification in Strategy from the University of Stellenbosch Business School in South Africa, as well as leadership training through Strathmore Business School.
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Standard Chartered, Barclays, KCB Kenya, NIC and the SME Banking Role
Wilfred Musau began his banking career at Standard Chartered Bank Kenya, marking his entry into an industry in which he would spend more than two decades.
His early experience at the bank provided the foundation for his later move into increasingly senior positions in commercial and consumer banking.
He subsequently moved to Barclays Bank Kenya, now Absa Bank Kenya, adding another major international banking institution to his professional experience.
At Barclays Bank Kenya, Musau continued building experience in commercial banking before making another major career move.
His next destination was KCB Bank Kenya, where he worked in growing business segments, including the small and medium-sized enterprise market.
At KCB, Musau served as Head of SME Banking, a role that placed him in charge of an important segment of the bank’s business.
He later had the opportunity to work outside Kenya when he moved to KCB Rwanda, where he served as Deputy Managing Director and Head of Corporate Banking.
The Rwanda assignment gave him regional exposure and experience managing corporate banking at a senior executive level.
Wilfred Musau later moved to NIC Bank, where he served as Head of Business Banking and Head of Branch Business.
By this stage, his career had covered different areas of banking, including SME banking, corporate banking, business banking, and branch operations across both Kenya and the East African market.
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The Move to National Bank
Wilfred Musau joined National Bank of Kenya in September 2015 as Director in charge of the Retail and Premium Banking division.
He had been at the bank for only about seven months when the lender underwent a major management shake-up.
In April 2016, Musau was appointed Acting Managing Director and CEO after the departure of Munir Sheikh Ahmed. At the time, NBK faced challenges, including declining earnings, capital pressures, rising bad loans, and corporate governance concerns.
In October 2016, the NBK board confirmed Musau as the bank’s substantive Managing Director and CEO for an initial five-year term, citing his stewardship of the lender during a difficult period.
NBK reported a KSh1.2 billion loss for 2015, largely the to heavy provisions and loan impairment charges.
Under Musau, the bank pursued measures to improve its business model, technology, risk management and revenue streams.
In 2017, NBK upgraded its core banking platform. The bank said the new system was intended to improve operational efficiency, compliance and risk-management capabilities, although the upgrade was followed by a temporary disruption of some banking services.
Wilfred Musau also spoke about diversifying NBK’s revenue beyond interest income, including through bancassurance, custody, fund management and digital platforms.
His tenure ultimately ended during KCB Group’s acquisition and integration of NBK in 2019.
In September 2019, KCB confirmed Paul Russo as NBK’s new Managing Director, replacing Musau. Musau was subsequently assigned a new role within KCB Group to support the integration of NBK.
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