Ng’ang’a Njinu appointed as TransCentury CEO

The board of infrastructure firm TransCentury has confirmed Ng’ang’a Njinu as its chief executive officer.

Mr Njinu takes over from Gachao Kiuna who resigned in January as the firm moved to restructure its Sh8 billion foreign currency bond.

Before being appointed as the acting CEO, he had served as the Corporate Finance Director.

“The board is confident that the company has both the leadership and experience to build on its existing strengthens whilst devising new strategies to ensure sustained growth of the business,” the board said in a notice to investors.

Mr Njiunu joined the firm in 2008 rising through the ranks from corporate finance, portfolio management and the new infrastructure department.

The new CEO is credited with restructuring the firm’s debt as well as leading a round of fund raising to recapitalize the business.

This culminated with the injection of Sh2 billion from US private equity fund Kuramo Capital which was brought in as a strategic investor.

Kuramo then converted the capital into equity, acquiring a 25 percent stake in the company, effectively becoming the majority shareholder.

The stabilization of the business saw TransCentury shake off a half year loss of Sh600 million in 2015, to post a Sh1.3 billion profit, largely based on the debt write off.

While revenues fell 21 percent to Sh4.1 billion during the period, TransCentury is expected to post strong growth in 2016 given the recovery of its key firms such as East African Cables.