KCA University Chancellor
FCPA Dr. Martin Oduor-Otieno, CBS, is a renowned business leader, executive coach and governance advisor in East Africa, passionate about driving African growth and prosperity through better leadership and governance practices.
Martin received a B.Com honours degree in Accounting from the University of Nairobi, Kenya in 1979 and later went on to acquire an Executive MBA in Finance from the ESAMI/Maastritch Business Schools in 2003. He qualified as a Certified Public Accountant (Kenya) in 1982 and Certified Public Secretary (Kenya) in 1991. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Directors (Kenya) and holds an ICF credential as a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) as well as the AoEC (UK) Diploma in Executive Coaching.
Martin’s career began with his employment at Pannel Bellhouse Mwangi (the precursor to Ernst & Young) firm of Auditors and Accountants in Kenya in 1979 for just under 3 years. He later held various positions in Finance at British American Tobacco Company Kenya, before moving to Barclays Bank of Kenya where he became Finance & Planning Director in 1997. In 1999 he was appointed Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance/Treasury in the Government of Kenya as part of what was christened ‘the dream team’ sponsored by the World Bank to help turn around the Kenya economy which was in doldrums at the time. Key achievements included the introduction of the PRSP/MTEF process and budgetary discipline, among a number of finance and public sector reform initiatives. Martin rejoined Barclays Bank in 2001 and worked for 2 years in the Africa office in Johannesburg, leading the implementation of Sarbanes-Oxley and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) requirements across the various Barclays businesses in Africa. In 2005 he returned to Kenya and joined Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Group as deputy CEO and eighteen months later was appointed CEO. In this capacity, he led rapid transformation and expansion of the bank across East Africa, positioning it as the largest bank in the region. He joined Deloitte Consulting in East Africa as Partner in charge of Financial Services in 2013 and left at the end of 2015 to start his consulting firm, The Leadership Group Limited which focuses on growing leaders and driving better governance practices in the region.
Martin has earned a strong reputation as a top-tier business leader, mentor, executive coach, opinion leader and trusted business advisor. He has worked on various boards since 2016; Board of directors of East African Breweries plc, where he is non-Executive Chairman; Member of board of directors of Standard Bank Group and Standard Bank of South Africa; Member of board of directors of B A T Kenya plc where he is chairman of the respective Board Audit and Risk Committees (BARC). Martin retired in May 2021 as a member of the International Senate of SOS Children’s Villages (SOS KDI) where he served for 12 years as well as from Kenya Airways plc and GA Life Insurance Company at the end of his term. He was President of the International Coaching Federation, Kenya Chapter in 2020.
Martin’s biography,Beyond the Shadows of my dream was released in 2012 and an update released in 2022. He has become a regular speaker at conferences and facilitator at many leadership and governance forums.
Thoughts on Africa and Leadership: Martin’s work in both public and private sectors in Africa has given him a vantage position from which to reflect on issues of leadership and governance. He remains optimistic about Africa’s future and has thus dedicated the current phase of his career in developing the next generation of leaders through his coaching and training programs and the other interventions he champions through facilitating relevant forums for leaders across all sectors.
