Job Title: group MD
Company: Unga Group
James Nyutu was appointed as the group managing director of Unga Group in July 2025 after serving in an acting capacity for a year. He took on the role after more than a decade as group finance and ICT director. Since 2018, he has also been a trustee of the Unga Holdings Limited Staff Pension Scheme, adding board-level responsibility to his executive role.
He began his career in 1999 as an accounts assistant at Corporate Insurance Company (CIC) before moving to Britam in 2000. The following year, he joined NAS Holdings as a management trainee and advanced to system administrator in 2002. By 2004, he had risen to the role of management accountant at NAS Airport Services, tasked with supporting finance operations. H was promoted to CFO in 2007 and served in the role until 2012.
In 2005, James became a director of Lavender Properties, a real estate development firm he continues to oversee. He joined Unga Group in 2013 as group finance director, a role he held for eleven years.
James holds a BCom from the University of Nairobi and an MBA from Edinburgh Business School, Heriot-Watt University. He is a certified public accountant (CPA-K).
Work Experience
2025 – Present: group managing director, Unga Group
2024 – 2025: acting group managing director, Unga Group
2013 – 2024: group finance director, Unga Group
2018 – Present: member, board of trustees – Unga Holdings Limited Staff Pension Scheme
2005 – Present: director, Lavender Properties
2007 – 2012: chief financial officer, NAS Airport Services
2004 – 2007: management accountant, NAS Airport Services
2002 – 2003: system administrator, NAS Holdings
2001 – 2002: management trainee, NAS Holdings
2000 – 2001: accounts assistant, Britam
1999 – 2000: accounts assistant, Corporate Insurance Company
Education
2022 – 2023: CPS in corporate governance, self study
2009 – 2009: MBA, Edinburgh Business School, Heriot-Watt University
Strathmore University: CPA, IMIS, CISA
University of Nairobi: BCom
Unga Group
Unga Group is a food and nutrition company in East Africa with operations in Kenya and Uganda. The company produces a wide portfolio of human and animal nutrition products.
