In 2024, the Kenyan banking sector was marked by high interest rates, rising loan defaults, and a credit freeze for small businesses. But the heads of the country’s nine largest commercial banks had reason to celebrate, according to disclosures in their financial statements. KCB Group CEO Paul Russo earned $1.9 million (KES 250.2 million) in total compensation — a 40.8% increase that made him the highest-paid bank executive in the country.
At NCBA, John Gachora took home $1.6 million (KES 208.4 million), while Standard Chartered’s Kariuki Ngari saw his pay jump 43.5% to $1.3 million (KES 174.4 million). Of the nine banks analysed, only I&M Bank and DTB trimmed executive pay. I&M’s Kihara Maina earned $537,817 (KES 69.3 million), down 9.7%, while DTB’s Nasim Devji took home $488,148 (KES 62.9 million), a 4.2% decline.
Elsewhere, the cash kept flowing upward. At Absa Bank Kenya, CEO Abdi Mohammed was paid $852,126 (KES 109.8 million), a 39.8% increase. Stanbic Bank Kenya awarded its CEO, Patrick Mweheire, $741,148 (KES 95.5 million), up 12.8%. At Co-operative Bank, long-serving chief executive Gideon Muriuki saw his pay rise 11.7% to $1.3 million (KES 172.5 million), while Equity Bank’s James Mwangi earned $1.2 million (KES 166.3 million), a modest 4.7% uptick.
While Kenya’s top bankers secured record pay packages, households and SMEs endured some of the toughest borrowing conditions since the COVID-19 pandemic, raising questions over who the financial system is really working for.
In total, CEOs of the country’s nine largest banks pocketed nearly $9.3 million (KES 1.2 billion) in 2024, even as thousands of businesses were denied loans, inflation squeezed household budgets, and the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) repeatedly warned that banks were failing to direct credit to the productive economy.
“All we are asking is for banks to be fair and to act in the same way that they were quick to raise lending rates when the policy rate was increasing and the treasury rates were increasing,” CBK governor Kamau Thugge said in December.
“I think it’s in banks’ interest to lower their lending rates. If they continue on this path, it will be a no-win for anyone and the economy will not be able to perform.”
On average, executive compensation rose by more than 15%, even as many lenders froze pay reviews for junior staff and accelerated cost-cutting through digital restructuring. Standard Chartered, for instance, continued slimming its payroll through attrition despite delivering record profits.
Boardroom pay moved in the same direction. At NCBA, directors’ compensation surged 54.4% to $5.1 million (KES 660.2 million) — the highest among listed banks. Co-operative Bank’s board earned $3.6 million (KES 473.4 million) (+28.1%), while StanChart’s directors received $2.9 million (KES 378 million) (+17.4%). Only I&M and KCB reduced board payouts, with KCB Group cutting directors’ pay by 20%.
Kenya’s banking sector posted a record $2 billion (KES 262.3 billion) in pre-tax profit last year, buoyed largely by income from government securities and widening interest margins. By locking into high-yield Treasury instruments, banks booked easy returns while sidestepping the risks of lending to struggling households and small firms.
