Guaranty Trust Bank regional CFO Angela Koech is thrilled by the unpredictable. She has come to understand leadership as a journey in service of others and is keen to leave her mark on those she crosses paths with. As she steps into a new realm of leadership, she is excited for what comes next.
As GTB’s regional chief finance and strategy officer Angela Koech is particularly drawn to the strategic aspects of her role, which allow her to connect the dots between data, market trends, and business goals.
“I like the thinking and figuring out what would work, what won’t work and putting together the different elements of the business to see how they consolidate and work effectively as one big engine. The fact that I oversee multiple countries is also exciting. Everybody has a different problem. There’s a new monkey every day. It keeps you alive,” she says.
But after 10 years at the bank, Angela has grown restless and is ready for a new challenge. She is now preparing for her next assignment as chief operating officer, a role that will push her beyond finance into technology, risk, digital banking and test her ability towards cross-functional leadership. A decade after she left the Land of a Thousand Hills, she is excited to return and venture into new territory.
“I think it has grown over the last 10 years. I don’t think it would be a completely new experience for me. What’s more exciting for me is the complete shift in role because I’m going to be the chief operating officer. It’s more cross-functional leadership as opposed to the current role that is functional leadership of finance and so it allows me to dig deeper into different parts of the business. I’ll be the one in charge of technology, risk, electronic business, and credit. The heads of those units will be reporting to me. It forces me to get out of my comfort zone and sort of have to dig and learn a lot more,” she says.
Risk, Angela believes, is “the career of the future”. In a world where geopolitical shocks and AI disruptions are rippling across borders, she sees risk professionals as the new strategists, identifying new opportunities within the ever present risks in volatile market conditions. Her pivot to COO aligns with this vision, allowing her to blend risk oversight with operational agility.
CROs: the drivers of the future
“Things are changing very rapidly. Looking at technology and information asymmetry, it’s almost like we’re no longer a world of many countries, just one round world. There’s a war in Ukraine and we in Kenya are coughing. Businesses require a lot of resilience building and I think CROs would be the people who would be driving that. And I mean risk not in the traditional sense of just money laundering, but business risk in itself. Banks are buying fintechs and moving into the insurance business. Banks are moving into the payments business. The whole diversification of revenue streams in itself requires one to have their ear up,” she says.
Although accounting came naturally to her, Angela has found that the higher echelons of finance require a more varied skillset.
“When I was in consulting, I saw people who are technical experts, but their ability to communicate and network was lacking. You could find someone who might not be very technically apt, but is able to merge that technical expertise with social skills, making a faster leap than people who are just technically able. Your technical skills can only get you so far, but I think your non-technical skills, your life skills and social skills, are actually the ones that will take you even further,” she says.
This is why Angela enjoys prodding her team members to leave their “boxes” and try their hand at different things. So has observed that her team members, most of whom are millennials and Gen Zs, prefer to be “allowed” rather than “told” to take on new tasks. She therefore lets them reflect on their work and do it in their way, an approach, she says, that has been successful.
“Because I don’t like to be micromanaged, I don’t micromanage. But with responsibility comes accountability. So, I always hold them accountable for what they’re doing. And because we oversee strategy, I always provide them with opportunities to do things that are outside their comfort zone, no matter how resistant they are to it. My team knows me for throwing you in the deep end and asking you to swim,” she says.
Sink or swim
For her team, Angela is the pro swimmer holding their hand as they swim, and pulling them back up if they begin to sink. She impresses upon them the importance of both physical and mental health, making a point of creating a friendly environment and being approachable. Angela is deeply invested in her team’s wellbeing, having experienced a setback that required her to recalibrate her entire life seven years ago.
“In 2018, I was diagnosed with Lupus. And it was surreal. I was at what I thought was the peak of my career, and I started asking myself, ‘Does this mean my career is over’? At the time, my identity was so tied to my work. That diagnosis was a moment of inflection. I began paying more attention to every part of myself. That’s when I began my fitness journey with CrossFit and cycling, just becoming more conscious about my body and wellbeing,” she says.
The experience sharpened her approach to leadership, as she now strikes an even balance between her high-paced career and slowing down to build herself up again. She now draws fulfilment from seeing people she has taken under her wing soar to become leaders themselves.
“I think sometimes we see leadership as a journey of self, but my proud moments are knowing that my finance manager is now a head of credit somewhere, and my next finance manager is now the head of finance in another bank. That's what motivates me and makes me feel like I have made an impact,” she says.
In 2024, Angela’s efforts won her the ACCA Financial Services Sector CFO Award, after finishing in the top three in 2022. She was also nominated as one of Business Monthly East Africa’s leading women in finance. This quick succession of wins, while not a first for her, left her stunned. She cannot think of a more fitting way to close the curtains on her time in finance.
A new direction
“I asked myself, ‘Why is it that everyone is beginning to recognise me this year as I’m about to hang my boots in finance’? But it was a good way to start the transition into something different,” she says.
“People are at very different stages of their careers, right? We have CFOs of extremely large organisations and some at smaller or mid-level organisations. And I think through a forum like CFO East Africa, you can learn through one another. That level is where you need it the most because you’re facing different challenges that are not technical matters. So you need people who have walked through those kinds of journeys to be able to help you in finding solutions when you’re stuck on the best decision to make,” she explains.
When she is overtaken by the pace of work, Angela dials down by seeking out the quiet of nature. She is also a thrill seeker, having skydived and paraglided during her travels with friends. She also nurses a latent interest in motorcycles, which she hopes to explore soon.
“I find nature to be restorative. I can travel anywhere, but when I need to recharge, I prefer to go to quieter places where there’s a lot of nature. Victoria Falls was fantastic. I also like to read, but when I read for leisure, I like to read fiction. I’m also fascinated by adventure bikes. Maybe someday I’ll learn to ride one. It’s just one of those things I’d love to try,” she says.
