Board of Directors

Linus Gitahi

Chairman

Mr. Gitahi, MBS, is an Independent and Non-Executive Director of the Bank. He was appointed to the Board in April 2017. He holds a B. Com (Hons.) in Accounting from the University of Nairobi, a Diploma in Management from the Kenya Institute of Management and an MBA from the United States International University. He is also a Fellow of the Kenya Institute of Management. Mr. Gitahi is currently the Chairman of Tropikal Brands (Africa) Limited, Chairman of Oxygene Communication Limited and a Trustee of the Management University of Africa. In addition, he is a Director of Simba Corp, Outspan Hospital and Medical College as well as Allianz Insurance (K) Limited. He previously served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Nation Media Group and prior to that was the Group Chief Executive Officer for GlaxoSmithKline in West Africa, after having held diverse management positions with them.

Shaffiq Dharamshi

Vice-Chairman

Mr. Dharamshi is a Non-Independent and Non-Executive Director of the Bank. He was appointed to the Board in April 2015. He is a professional banker with over twenty years of senior management experience in the Middle East and Africa. Mr. Dharamshi is the Head of Banking for the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED), and responsible for providing oversight on operations of financial institutions in the AKFED portfolio across Asia and Africa. He also serves as a director on the boards of DTB Uganda and DTB Tanzania, Habib Bank Limited, Pakistan, Kyrgyz Investment and Credit Bank, Kyrgyzstan, First Microfinance Bank, Tajikistan and DCB Bank, India. Prior to taking this position with AKFED, he was Senior Vice President, Wholesale Credit Risk Management at Mashreq Bank in Dubai. Before joining Mashreq Bank, Mr. Dharamshi spent seventeen years with Citibank in a wide range of positions across different areas of the bank in Africa and the Middle East. Mr. Dharamshi holds a MSc. in Economics / Information Systems from the London School of Economics. He is also a member of the Institute of Directors (Kenya).

Nasim Devji

Group Chief Executive Officer

Mrs. Devji is a Non-Independent and Executive Director of the Bank. She joined the DTB Group in 1996 following which she was appointed Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Diamond Trust Bank in East Africa in 2001. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales, a Fellow of the Kenya Institute of Bankers, a Fellow of the Institute of Directors (Kenya) and an Associate of the Institute of Taxation (United Kingdom). Mrs. Devji is a director of DTB Tanzania, DTB Uganda, DTB Burundi, Jubilee Insurance Burundi and Diamond Trust Bancassurance Intermediary Agency Limited. She has previously served on the Board of the Nairobi Securities Exchange Limited and as a member of the Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Murali Natarajan

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Natarajan was appointed as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Diamond Trust Bank Kenya Limited with effect from 1 November 2024. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) Degree from the University of Delhi, India. He is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Prior to his current appointment at DTB Kenya, Mr. Natarajan was for a period of 15 years, until April 2024, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of DCB Bank Limited, India, a listed banking company regulated by the Reserve Bank of India. He has also previously held the position of Global Head of SME Banking, Standard Chartered Bank, Head of Consumer Banking, India & Nepal, Standard Chartered Bank, Head of Mortgages & Auto and Head of Banking Strategy, Standard Chartered Bank, India and prior to that held various positions within Citibank and American Express.

Mr. Natarajan is knowledgeable, has global exposure and vast experience in banking and financial services and in particular in dealing with Retail, MSME / SME clients and the related products and services.

Pamella Ager

Director

Mrs. Ager is a Non-Independent and Non-Executive Director of the Bank. She was appointed to the Board in May 2013. She is a partner in Oraro & Company Advocates and holds a First Class Honours LLM Degree from Auckland University and a Bachelor of Laws Degree from the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand. She also holds a diploma from the Kenya School of Law. Besides being an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya, Mrs. Ager is a member of the Law Society of Kenya, Federation of Women Lawyers, East African Law Society and Commonwealth Lawyers Association. She is also a member of the Institute of Directors (Kenya) and sits on various boards for education and non-profit organisations.

Jeremy Ngunze

Director

Mr. Ngunze is an Independent and Non-Executive Director of the Bank. He was appointed to the Board in June 2021. He is a career banker with broad experience in financial services spanning over 30 years, across Africa and Asia and holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from the University of Nairobi and an MBA from University of Manchester.

He is currently the Chairman of PACT Kenya and is a board member of PACT Global and PACT UK, amongst other organizations.

Mr. Ngunze previously served as Group Executive Director for Regional Business at NCBA Group and prior to that was the Chief Executive Officer at Commercial Bank of Africa, Kenya.

Guedi Ainache

Director

Mr. Ainache is an Independent and Non-Executive Director of the Bank. He was appointed to the Board in April 2017. He holds a Masters' Degree in Economic Science and Management from the University of Le Mans, France and a Post-Graduate Degree in Audit and Risk Management from the University of Angers, France. He is currently the Corporate Finance Director for MMD Group in Nairobi. He has also previously served as the Head of the Syndication for The Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (PTA Bank) in Nairobi and as the Regional Director for PROPARCO in East Africa, in addition to having held diverse positions with PROPARCO and Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Banking both in Paris.

Sagheer Mufti

Director

Mr. Mufti is an Independent and Non-Executive Director of the Bank. He was appointed to the Board in January 2020. He is a professional banker with over 38 years experience within the international financial industry. Mr. Mufti is currently the Chief Operating Officer for HBL Pakistan and is responsible for building a corporate culture based on operational excellence and technology capabilities for fulfilment of client services to the over 14 million customers served by HBL Pakistan in over 20 countries. Prior to that, he was the Chief Operating Officer for ADIB based in Abu Dhabi and also spent 34 years at Citi in different management and leadership roles where he led various enterprise transformation programmes and business redesign responsibilities regionally and globally. At the time he left Citi, Mr. Mufti was the Global Head of Anti-Money Laundering operations. Mr. Mufti holds a Masters in Business Administration from the George Washington University, Washington DC, USA.

Moez Jamal

Director

Mr. Jamal is a Non-Independent and Non-Executive Director of the Bank. He was appointed to the Board in December 2009. He has vast experience in banking and is currently a Director of Habib Bank Limited, Pakistan and Marcuard Family Office, Switzerland. Mr. Jamal has previously worked in various senior positions with Credit Suisse and Lloyds Bank International London / New York and his last assignment was as the Global Treasurer, Credit Suisse. Mr. Jamal holds an MBA in Finance from Stern Business School, New York University and a BA (Hons.) from Manchester University in England. He is also a member of the Institute of Directors (Kenya).

Irfan Keshavjee

Director

Mr. Keshavjee is a Non-Independent and Non-Executive Director of the Bank. He was appointed to the Board in May 2013. He has an MBA from the University of Oxford, U.K and a Bachelor's Degree in Civil-Environmental Engineering from Queen's University in Canada. He also holds a certificate in Housing Finance from the Wharton Real Estate Centre, University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Keshavjee has had over 20 years of commercial experience in East Africa as a director of the White Rose Group of Companies. He is also the founder of Karibu Homes, an organisation dedicated to providing affordable housing to hardworking Kenyans, with over 1,000 homes currently under development in peri-urban Kenya. He was awarded the prestigious Ashoka Fellowship and the Acumen Fund East Africa Fellowship for having co-founded award-winning enterprises that impact on the livelihoods of low-income Kenyans. He is also a member of the Institute of Directors (Kenya).

Alkarim Jiwa

Director Finance & Strategy

Mr. Jiwa is a Non-Independent and Executive Director of the Bank. He was appointed to the Board in September 2018. He joined the bank in 1998 and was appointed to the position of Chief Finance Officer in 2001, a position he continues to hold to date. He is also a Director of DTB Burundi. Prior to joining the bank, Mr. Jiwa worked for several years with an accountancy and audit firm in Nairobi, Kenya. He is a Fellow of the United Kingdom-based Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya.

Uday Bhasin

Director

Mr. Bhasin is an Independent and Non-Executive Director of the Bank. He was appointed to the Board in July 2024. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (“ICAEW”), holds The Corporate Finance Qualification from the ICAEW and a Bachelors of Arts in Economics and Social Studies from the University of Manchester. He currently serves as the Managing Director of Tradeways Co LLC, a leading emerging markets financial and family advisory business.

Mr. Bhasin has previously served as the Chief Finance and Investment Officer at Sharjah Holding and as Executive Director at Dubai Group, two UAE based Sovereign Wealth Funds with significant investments across Asia, Middle East and Africa. Prior to these roles, Mr. Bhasin spent 11 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers working in Africa, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Mr. Bhasin currently serves on the Boards of Diamond Trust Bank Tanzania Limited, Sarova Hotels Kenya Limited, Metro Life Assurance Tanzania Limited and Meticulous Insurance Tanzania Limited.