Equity Group has appointed John Wilson as the new Chief Operations Officer (COO).
Wilson replaces Bhartesh Shah who is now the Group’s director for digitisation, virtualisation, analytics and artificial intelligence that are under the risk management section.
The new COO was acquired from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), World Bank’s private sector wing.
While at the institution, Wilson led an investment in budding financial institutions in Southern and Eastern Africa.
“John will enhance the execution of strategy and operational oversight of the entire business including the subsidiaries as Mary Wamae the Group Executive Director focuses on leadership and governance of the various business lines, while Bhartesh oversees the comprehensive Group enterprise risk management,” read part of Equity’s statement to media houses quoted by Citizen Digital on Monday.
The appointment comes at a time Equity Group has the intention to acquire for banking subsidiaries in Southern Africa from the London Securities Exchange (LSE) listed Atlas Mara in an Sh10 billion deal.
Ethiopia is another country targeted by Equity.
The Swede will be instrumental in Equity's expansion plan due to his rich experience. He previously worked as the Managing Director to Iceland-based Kaupthing Bank and IFC’s Capital Markets Investment Officer.
He holds a master’s degrees in international relations from Princeton University and another master’s degrees in economics from Swedish Uppsala University.