Anne Wanjiku Mutahi is the fourth woman in Kenya to chair the Board of a Nairobi Securities Exchange listed company. She was named the acting chairperson of the board of Standard Chartered Group in 2012 following the resignation of Wilfred Kiboro. She was later confirmed in that role in 2013.
She is also the founder of Soko Letu Limited which manages trader markets in Nairobi’s central business district, in addition to holding the position of Executive Director of Biashara Factors Ltd, a supply chain financing company providing financial services to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) who supply goods and services on credit terms to well established companies.
Mutahi started her career as a Marketing Executive at Diner’s Club after declining a job offer at the Coffee Board that her father, the late Minister for Transport John Michuki, had helped her secure. In 1985, she moved on to Middle East Bank in Nairobi where she was the Credit Officer and Money Market Dealer. In 1992, she joined ABN AMRO Bank as the Head of Marketing for the banking operations in Kenya and then proceeded to Citibank in 1997 as the Senior Corporate Banking Manager. After a short stint at Citibank, she was appointed Vice President and Head of Small and Medium Business Enterprise Unit in Citibank’s Nairobi branch.
Mutahi, a mother of four, holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Cape Town University as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Duquesne University, Pittsburgh PA, USA. She left Citibank in 2004 to head Jitegemee Trust Limited, a wholesale microfinance institution that empowers low-income individuals in creating wealth by improving access to financial and business development services.
The social influencer sits on the boards of various organisations including the Old Mutual Life Assurance Company Limited and the Kenya Institute of Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA), the Kenya Private Sector Association (KEPSA) and the Association of Micro Finance Institutions (AMFI) as Chair. The entrepreneur dropped the name Michuki from her business cards, choosing to use Anne Wanjiku so her achievements could be judged on their own merit.
She is married to Mutahi Kagwe who is the first Senator of Nyeri County. Mutahi, a passionate mentor of young girls, is also the former chairperson of the Women Enterprise Fund Kenya and serves on the board of Haki Trust, an affiliate group of the Nairobi Chapel that is involved in raising funds for the Jubilee Educational Fund.