Equity names World Banks top man John Wilson as new operations chief

Equity Group has named John Wilson as the new Chief Operations Officer (COO) replacing Bhartesh Shah who transitions to head the company’s risk management arm.

Mr. Wilson has been tapped from the World Bank’s private sector wing; the International Finance Corporation (IFC), where he oversaw new investments in financial institutions within East and Southern Africa.

His appointment falls in line with the bank’s recent quest on regional expansion, having most recently expressed its intention to acquire for banking subsidiaries in Southern Africa from the London Securities Exchange (LSE) listed Atlas Mara in a Ksh.10 billion deal.

The Swede national will now sit among the crème de la crème at Equity, tasked with delivering the bank’s ambitious goal which has also seen it open a representative office in neighboring Ethiopia.

“John will enhance the execution of strategy and operational oversight of the entire business including the subsidiaries as Mary Wamae the Group Executive Director focuses on leadership and governance of the various business lines, while Bhartesh oversees the comprehensive Group enterprise risk management,” read part of Equity’s statement to media houses on Monday.

John Wilson has previously served as IFC’s Capital Markets Investment Officer and as the Managing Director to Iceland’s based Kaupthing Bank.

He holds a pair of master’s degrees in economics and international relations from the Swedish Uppsala University and Princeton University respectively.