Kenya’s Equity Bank has appointed Ambassador Erastus Mwencha as its Board Chairman, a position previously held by Professor Isaac Macharia who was recently appointed Equity Group Holdings Board Chairman.
Prior to his appointment, Ambassador Erastus Mwencha served as the Deputy Chairperson for the Africa Union Commission (AUC), overseeing the administration and finance of the Commission as its Controlling Officer, supervising the development of two AUC Strategic Plans (2009-12) and (2012-17), and participating in the development of Africa’s long-term vision of Agenda 2063.
He was also the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Secretary-General for ten years, where he led COMESA into becoming the first regional body on the African continent to achieve a Free Trade Area (COMESA FTA) in 2000.
Mwencha further represented the region in negotiating the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPAs) with the European Union (E.U.), the Doha Round of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and in promoting the AGOA (African Growth and Opportunity Act) for the benefit of the region’s stakeholders.
Prior to joining COMESA, Mwencha served as the Head of Industrial Promotion Department at the Ministry of Industry in Kenya and Secretary to the Industrial Sciences Advisory Research Committee (ISARC). He was also a Senior Economist at the Kenyan Industrial Survey and Promotion Centre
Mwencha holds a B.A. (Hons) in Economics from the University of Nairobi and an M.A. in Economics from the University of York.
