Financial services firm UAP Old Mutual Group has made key appointments to its executive suite by naming Arnold Dippenaar as the Group Chief Financial Officer.
The company has also named Abdallah Hussein Khamis as the Group Chief Operations Officer, and Grace Wakonyo Thiong’o as Group Head of Compliance.
The latest changes come only four months after the company named Arthur Oginga as the Group Chief Executive Officer to replace Peter Mwangi.
Dippenaar was until his appointment the Head of Product Services, Personal and Business Banking, Africa Regions at Standard Bank of South Africa.
Before that he was Head of Consumer Credit Card Issuing, Personal and Business Banking, and Chief Financial Officer at the same bank, having also worked at MTN Banking.
Oginga said Dippenaar, who has worked in several countries across continents, brings an analytical approach and wealth of experience in leading multicultural teams.
“Arnold has over two decades of expertise within the banking sector, affording him the opportunity to operate between strategic, operational and tactical roles. He has demonstrated an analytical, factual and rational approach to business combined with a natural flair in leading multi-cultural teams,” said Oginga.
Dippenaar, a chartered accountant, holds a post-graduate degree and a Bachelors degree in Accountancy from the University of Potchefstroom (North West) South Africa, and has attended several courses in banking and leadership development.
On his part, Khamis once served as Chief Operating Officer at Airtel Kenya. He was until his appointment the Managing Director at Zola Electric Nigeria and was previously Executive Vice President for Global Expansion at Off-Grid Electric (Zola Electric) for San Francisco, California.
“Abdallah has over 20 years’ international and multi-industry experience in building organizations and accelerating enterprise value growth across 39 Sub-Saharan Africa countries,” said Oginga.
Khamis holds an MBA from the Sloan School of Management at MIT (USA), an MBA from the University of Nairobi and a Bachelor of Education (Science) degree from Egerton University.
He also holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM UK) and a Certificate in Negotiation from Harvard Law School.
Until her appointment as the Group Head of Compliance, Thiong’o was the Head of Risk and Compliance at Faulu Microfinance Bank, a role she will continue to oversee.
She has 18 years’ experience in Risk Management and Audit having worked at Australia New Zealand (ANZ) Banking Group and at Deloitte in Nairobi and Melbourne.
Thiong’o holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) degree from the University of Nairobi and is a Certified Public Accountant of Kenya (CPA-K), a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) and a Member of the Institute of Internal Auditors in Australia (MIIA).
She also graduated with an MBA from the Melbourne Business School on a scholarship by the Women in Leadership Program at the institution. Thiong’o also holds a Risk Certification from the Harvard Business School (HBS).
