Nicasio Karani
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^Experience^

My Work Experience

Bank Economist and General Manager- Special Projects – Macro Economics & Research – Real Economy & Financial Markets (Group CEO & MD’s Office )

Apr 2010 -2025 (Present)
Bank Economist and General Manager- Special Projects – Macro Economics & Research – Real Economy & Financial Markets (Group CEO & MD’s Office )
Equity Bank Group Holdings Plc
My duties span from cross border expansion research, development of business cases per country, consolidation of value creation in Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda and Tanzania , project/program /portfolio management of more than 28 cross-functional teams ranging from legal, ICT, supply chain, HR, finance, risk , governance and compliance, treasury and operations to organically set up new greenfield subsidiaries from scratch or expand inorganically through acquisitions.I led in concurrent setup of both Equity Bank Rwanda (opened doors to customers in October 2011) and Equity Bank Tanzania (Opened doors to customers in February 2012).

Senior Manager

April 2010 – April 2018
Senior  Manager
Equity Bank Group Holdings Plc
Projects and Innovation (Regional Expansion Sub Sahara Africa- Setup of Equity Rwanda, Tanzania and DRC ProCredit Bank Acquisition )

Facilitator for Mckinsey Consulting Group

2014-2024
Facilitator for Mckinsey Consulting Group
Equity Bank Group Holdings Plc
Facilitator for Mckinsey Consulting Group - Equity Group Holdings Plc Equity 3.0 2014-2024 Strategic Plan.

Fundraising Lead for $1M - Equity Bank DRC & (ADFI)

Jan 2023-Feb 2025
 Fundraising Lead for $1M - Equity Bank DRC &  (ADFI)
African Development Bank Group
Led Fundraising of USD$1million for Equity Bank DRC (EBCDC) from AFDB’s Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility (ADFI) for scaling last mile digital merchants payments network to 10,000 Pay With Equity (PWE) merchants -2025

Case Study -‘’Entry of Equity Bank into DRC’’ with Dr David Mathuva- SBS

Jan 2023 - May 2023
Case Study -‘’Entry of Equity Bank into DRC’’ with Dr David Mathuva- SBS
Strathmore Business School (SBS)
Case Study Writing Facilitation for Dr David Mathuva - Strathmore Business School - ‘’ Entry of Equity Bank into DRC’’.

Case Study Writing with Prof Caroline Elkins - ''A Marshall Plan for Africa''

Jun 2022 - Nov 2022
Case Study Writing with Prof Caroline Elkins - ''A Marshall Plan for Africa''
Harvard Business School
Prof Caroline M. Elkins, Prof Debora L. Spar, Zeke Gillman and Julia M. Comeau -- Harvard Business School- '’A Marshall Plan for Africa: James Mwangi and Equity Group Holdings’’.

Chair & Board Director - Finance, Planning and Strategy Committee

Feb 2019 - Aug 2022 (Seasonal)
Chair & Board Director - Finance, Planning and Strategy Committee
Kirinyaga Investment Development Authority -KIDA
Chair & Board Director - Finance, Planning and Strategy Committee at Kirinyaga Investment Development Authority -KIDA

Case Study - Equity Bank: Driving Digital Transformation Prof Ogbechie & Dr Iheanachor

Jan 2020 - Dec 2020
Case Study - Equity Bank: Driving Digital Transformation Prof Ogbechie & Dr Iheanachor
Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University
Coordinated, provided data and insights to Prof Chris Ogebchie and Dr Nkedilim Iheanachor of Lagos Business School writing and publication of four(4) case studies i.e. Equity Bank’s Internationalization: Building an African Multinational; +CSR: The Equity Bank Way, Equity Bank: Engaging The East African SME Space and [Note: seems incomplete, kept as is].

Case Studies with Prof L. Cohen & M. Chitavi -Equity Bank- Challenging a Giant & Charting the Future

Jan 2020 - Dec 2020
Case Studies with Prof L. Cohen & M. Chitavi -Equity Bank- Challenging a Giant & Charting the Future
Harvard Business School
Prof Lauren H. Cohen, Prof Michael Chitavi and Spencer C. N. Hagist - Harvard Business School - ''Equity Bank: Challenging a Giant'' and ‘’ Equity Bank: Charting the Future’’.

Volunteer Chairman- Strategy Committee- Board of Directors

Jan 2014 - Oct 2020
Volunteer Chairman- Strategy Committee- Board of Directors
ACK St Phillips Kihara Academy
Volunteer chairman of the strategy committee of the Board of Directors at ACK St Phillips Kihara Academy as part of my pro bono community services

Council Member (Board Director)

Mar 2017 - Mar 2020
Council Member (Board Director)
University of Kabianga
Chairman of Board Audit, Governance ,Risk and Compliance-GRC-Committee.Member of Board Finance and Resource Mobilisation Committee.Member of Board Planning and University Infrastructure Committee

Member of Planning and Infrastructure Committee

Mar 2017 - Apr 2020
Member of Planning and Infrastructure Committee
University of Kabianga
New Infrastructure master planning and budgeting Existing Infrastructure project management and contractor engagements Quarterly Infrastructure audit and field site visits Capitalizing Infrastructure by Finance into Books of Accounts Performance Contracting- PC- annual contracting with VC and DVCs, quarterly reviews and oversight University Strategic Planning- development, approvals and quarterly oversight of Annual Operating Plans - AOPs

Member of Board Finance & Resource Mobilization Committee

Mar 2017 - Apr 2020
Member of Board Finance & Resource Mobilization Committee
University of Kabianga
Annual Budget- Capex/Opex- reviews, approvals and oversight; Annual Procurement Plan reviews, approvals and oversight; Financial Reporting and Management Reporting oversight - quarterly/annual; Financial sustainability plan; Policies - debtors, creditors, payables, receivables, investments, procurement, budgeting, auditing, IPSAS.

Chairman of Board Audit, Governance ,Risk and Compliance-GRC

Mar 2017 - Mar 2020
Chairman of Board Audit, Governance ,Risk and Compliance-GRC
University of Kabianga
Supervising Internal Audit Department of the University; Engaging on KENAO/External Auditor Reports Implantation; Education quality audits/Review CHE- Commission for Higher Education Reports; Infrastructure projects audits; Financial Statements audits; Enterprise Risk Management- ERM- Top 10 Risks Report/ Dasboard; ICT systems Audit; Governance audit as per Mwongozo code of corporate governance for state corporations; Legal and compliance audit; Oversight of annual audit work plan; Board audit committee annual performance evaluation; Special Audits eg Frauds, Corruption ; campus sustainability etc.

Panelist - FoodTrade ESA Investment Committee

Jul 2014 - Feb 2019
Panelist - FoodTrade ESA Investment Committee
FoodTrade East and Southern Africa Challenge Fund (DAI/DFID)
Panelist for FoodTrade East and Southern Africa Challenge Fund (DAI/DFID - Investment Committee -IC -charged with selecting private sector companies best placed with excellent business cases, track record and feasible project plans to scale up attainment of the strategic objectives of FoodTrade in increasing production and cross border trade of cereals in East and Southern Africa.

Fundraised from MasterCard FRP US$1.5M for Equity Congo

Jan 2018 - Dec 2018
Fundraised from MasterCard FRP US$1.5M for Equity Congo
MasterCard Fund for Rural Prosperity
Wrote Fundraising RFP Proposal to MasterCard Fund for Rural Prosperity- FRP – Granted US$1.5 million to EquityBCDC DRC for Scaling up agency branchless banking in DR Congo 2018/2021

Fundraised FSD Africa US$2.5M to Equity DRC

Jan 2017 - Dec 2018
Fundraised FSD Africa US$2.5M to Equity DRC
FSD Africa
Fundraised from FSD Africa – Granted US$2.5 million to Equity Bank DRC to increase access to saving, loan and insurance products for over 1 million unserved and under-served people and MSMEs by 4000 Cash Express agency banking agents across 22 of DRC’s 26 provinces, small holder farmers finance , women and youths financial literacy training ,entrepreneurship education training, staff and executive education 2017/2021.

Book Chapter Writing Zoogah & Wolf- Equity Bank

Jan 2017 - Dec 2018
Book Chapter Writing Zoogah & Wolf- Equity Bank
PEEP - Policy Experimentation & Evaluation Platform
David B. Zoogah and Christian Wolf - ''Equity Bank: A High-Impact Entrepreneurial Turnaround Story''- a book chapter in Prof Dana Redford's Developing Africa's Financial Services.

Book Chapter -Prof Franca Ovadje,Challenge of Institutionalizing Organizational Renewal-Equity Bank

Jan 2016 - Dec 2016
Book Chapter -Prof Franca Ovadje,Challenge of Institutionalizing Organizational Renewal-Equity Bank
Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University
Coordinated, provided data and insights to Prof Franca Ovadje of Lagos Business School writing and publication of a case study turned book chapter ‘’The challenge of institutionalizing organizational renewal-A case study of Equity Bank’’ in Routledge Handbook of Organizational Change in Africa.

Cross Border Banking International Business Management- Case Study- Subject Matter Expert

Jan 2016 - Apr 2016
Cross Border Banking International Business Management- Case Study- Subject Matter Expert
Equity Bank
Edited on behalf of the Equity Bank the Case study by Dr Chris Ogbechie, Lagos Business School , entitled- ‘’ Equity Bank's Internationalization: Building an African Multinational’’.

Corporate Social Responsibility - Case Study- Subject Matter Expert

Jan 2015 - Dec 2015
Corporate Social Responsibility - Case Study- Subject Matter Expert
Equity Bank
Edited on behalf of the Equity Bank the Case study by Dr Chris Ogbechie, Lagos Business School , entitled- ‘’CSR , the Equity Bank Way’’.

Small and Medium Enterprises- SME Banking - Case Study- Subject Matter Expert

Jan 2015 - Dec 2015
Small and Medium Enterprises- SME Banking - Case Study- Subject Matter Expert
Equity Bank
Edited on behalf of the Equity Bank the Case study by Dr Chris Ogbechie, Lagos Business School , entitled- ‘’ Equity Bank :Engaging the East African SME Market’’.

Mobile Banking Rural and Agricultural Financial Infrastructure Expert

Jan 2015 - Apr 2016
Mobile Banking Rural and Agricultural Financial Infrastructure Expert
Financial Sector Deepening Africa
Led Proposal Writing that Won US$3 Million for Equitel/Finserve reach 5 Million Rural and Agricultural Clients in the 2015 MasterCard Fund for Rural Prosperity Scaling Up Competition

Agency Branchless Banking Scaling Up Subject Matter Expert (Equity Bank Tanzania)

Jan 2014 - Dec 2015
Agency Branchless Banking Scaling Up Subject Matter Expert (Equity Bank Tanzania)
Financial Sector Deepening Africa (FSD Africa)
Led Grant Proposal Writing That Fundraised from Financial Sector Deepening Trust – Tanzania – a Total of US$2.5 Million for Scaling Up Transformational Agency Branchless Banking by Equity Bank Tanzania Over 2016/2018.

Case Study Subject Matter Expert

Jan 2014 - Dec 2014
Case Study Subject Matter Expert
UNCDF
Edited on behalf of the Equity Bank the Case Study by Ann Duval on behalf of UNCDF entitled- ‘’Increasing Financial Inclusion in East Africa: Equity Bank’s Agent-Driven Model’’.

Adviser-Equity Investment Bank Systems Selection

Jul 2009 - Aug 2009
Adviser-Equity Investment Bank Systems Selection
Equity Bank Limited
Advising on investment banking system selection for stock brokerage, fund management, wealth management, corporate finance advisory ,global custody and private equity. Authored strategy paper advocating the set up of an Equity Bank Private Equity subsidiary modelled on Kolberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) to power African SMEs using capital, knowledge (strategic and hands-on operational management consultancy) and networking (financial institutions, governments, peer companies, consulting companies etc). Authored strategy paper advocating the set up of an Equity Bank Pan-African OTC and Commodity Derivatives Exchange subsidiary modelled on OTCEI (India) , OTCBB (India) , ASCE (Nigeria) and NCDEX (India) thus expanding capital markets instruments and size leveraging technology as Nairobi gears up to be the regional financial hub.

Adviser- Projects Management Office

Jul 2008 - Aug 2008
Adviser- Projects Management Office
Equity Bank
Advising on implementation of Siebel CRM (Sales, Marketing, service, Avaya contact centre), Oracle ERP (Financials, HRCM, Procurement, Projects), Oracle Business Intelligence,Hyperion (budgeting and planning, Corporate Performance Management-CPM using Kaplan and Norton Balanced Score Card), Nuclues Software Loan origination system (LOS), loan collections and credit scoring. Authored the strategy paper advocating for the set up of the Equity Investment Bank Subsidiary by postulating very strong end to end business and ICT cases after thorough global capital markets strategies and systems review.

Customer Relationship Manager (CRM Strategy & Program Management)

Aug 2006 - Jan 2008
Customer Relationship Manager (CRM Strategy & Program Management)
Equity Bank Limited
Leading research and development of innovative corporate and business strategies as well enterprise systems selection and implmentation (Siebel CRM, Oracle ERP, Oracle BI,Hyperion CPM, Hyperion budgeting and planning, Finnone loan origination and credit collections system). In charge of leading teams of about 15 staff members of Equity Bank in CRM Strategy and Business Case development from scratch including covering all current and expected future business lines (retail banking, bancassurance and investment banking). Led determination of the expected IT solutions to deploy in solving the business problems identified in the business case, developing the software vendors evaluation matrix, leading selection invitation and evaluation of software vendors via system walkthrough demos, participating in pricing negotiations with shortlisted vendor (Oracle Siebel CRM for sales, service & marketing -Operational CRM and Siebel Business Analytics for Analytical CRM ). Liaising with IT on hardware specifications and sizing, coordinating with IT on selection of the Avaya CTI for a unified communication contact centre, leading the development of an RFP for selection of CRM system integrators, spearheading selection and cost negotiations of the shortlisted CRM system integrators. I left the Bank in January 2008 to pursue an Msc Economics program at the University of Copenhagen but i have been advising the bank on an ad hoc basis as well as on site during all the summer holidays (july-august 2008, 2009). Authored the Equity Bank strategy paper advocating the adoption of the universal banking (''financial supermarket'')strategy through convergence of retail banking, investment banking, fund management, bancasurance and pensions administration.

Project Lead -Credit Origination, Credit Collections & Credit Scoring

Aug 2006 - Jan 2008
Project Lead -Credit Origination, Credit Collections & Credit Scoring
Equity Bank
Reporting to General Manager Credit and Director Projects. Project team leader of 15 members for the selection and implementation of an integrated loan origination system, consumer loans credit scoring, corporate and business loans internal ratings and collections solution e.g. Finnone, Kastle ULS, Fair Isaac ,SAS, or Experian. Researched, designed and recommended the loan originations, loan collections, credit scoring and corporate borrowers’ ratings strategy and IT systems to the bank for adoption. Systems evaluated included Fair Isaac Triad Enterprise Decision Management, Dun and Bradstreet Sentinel (SME) and Tracer (retail), Peldec, Iflex Daybreak LOS, Kalypto, SAS, 3i-infotech Kastle LOS, PIC Solutions, and Nucleus Software Finnone LOS.

MIS Reports Generation Officer

Jan 2004 - Aug 2005
MIS Reports Generation Officer
Equity Bank
Finance department officer in charge of consolidated financial and management information reports.

Project Officer- DFID FDCF-Village Banking on Wheels Project

Jan 2001 - Dec 2004
Project Officer- DFID FDCF-Village Banking on Wheels Project
Equity Bank
Reporting to General Manager IT and the Finance Director. Project manager- DFID/Equity Bank- £450,150 matching fund project on village/rural banking ‘’banking on wheels’’. Women and rural household empowerment. Roles included- project execution within budget and time lines, training of software and hardware users ,quarterly and annual reporting to CEO and DFID, management of project suppliers, liaison with DFID monitoring and evaluation team and coordinating replication site visits by other MFIs.

Computer Assitant-Core Banking Implementation

Jan 1998 - Dec 2000
Computer Assitant-Core Banking Implementation
Equity Bank
Implementation and support of core banking and MIS systems (Bank2000,Bankers Realm, Crystal Reports),computer hardware, LAN setups and leading the customer image capture and card processing.

Beneficiaries Impact Assessment Research Data Collection

1998
Beneficiaries Impact Assessment Research Data Collection
Plan International (Kiritiri/Mbeere)

Vehicle Tyre Market Share Assessment

1998
Vehicle Tyre Market Share Assessment
Firestone - Bridgestone
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^Lecturing/ Training Experience^

Teaching

Part Time Lecturer – MBA

2017
Part Time Lecturer – MBA
Jomo Kenyatta University Of Agriculture And Technology(JKUAT)
Part Time Lecturer – MBA - Global Strategic Management Course at JKUAT in 2017 (over 100 MBA students)

Equity Bank HR Staff Induction

2016
Equity Bank HR Staff Induction
Equity Bank
Equity Bank HR Staff Induction- Trained Thousands of New Staff on CSF#7 and 6 Equity Bank Case Studies