Yusuf Omari takes over as interim CEO at Absa Bank Kenya

Before an audience of more than 100 CFOs, CFO East Africa’s trusted partners had just four minutes to make their pitches before the buzzer sounded at the community’s first-ever Pitch Parade.

The modern CFO is no longer the executive who simply checks the numbers and sends them up the chain. As acting group CFO of Old Mutual East Africa, Isaiah Gakonyo sits at the intersection of technology, data, customer behaviour, capital discipline and long-term value creation. His approach is shaped by a persistent appetite for learning and asking better questions.

Tanzania’s oldest serving bank has joined CFO East Africa as a corporate member, extending the benefits of the finance leadership community to members of its senior team.

Lawrence Kimathi, group CFO at KCB, is among the nominees for the 2026 CFO East Africa Awards, with over 20 years of financial leadership across banking, insurance, beverages and tobacco in East Africa and beyond.

The operator of Tanzania's largest container handling facility brings a cross-functional leadership team into CFO East Africa as it takes up a corporate membership.

The hospital’s long-serving COO swaps roles with Baraka Kerich, who moves into operations after nearly eight years leading finance.