Kenyan banking tycoon James Mwangi joins Olaf Scholz's new global development commission

Kenyan banking tycoon James Mwangi, chief executive of Equity Group Holdings, has been named to a new international commission that will draw up proposals for how rich and poor countries should work together once the United Nations' development goals expire in 2030.

Mwangi is one of 20 members of the South-North Commission on Development, an independent body set up by the German government and co-chaired by former German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and former Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla. The co-chairs presented the commissioners in Berlin on Oct. 5.

He is one of only two business leaders on the panel, alongside Mexican businesswoman Altagracia Gómez Sierra, and the only one from Africa. He serves in a personal capacity.

"Africa should no longer be seen through the lens of aid," Mwangi said after his appointment.

Who else is on it

The commission brings together some of the most prominent figures in global development. They include World Bank President Ajay Banga, World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and former Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, who sits on the panel for the UN Development Programme.

The panel also includes former government leaders such as South Africa's Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Senegal's Aminata Touré and Indonesia's Sri Mulyani Indrawati. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Denis Mukwege, the Congolese gynecologist, and economist Kaushik Basu are also members.

The commission builds on the North-South Commission led by former West German Chancellor Willy Brandt from 1977, whose report shaped debates on global inequality for decades. It will hold its first meeting in Bangkok on Oct. 16 and 17, alongside the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, publish interim findings in 2027 and deliver a final report at the end of 2028.

The banker from Kangema

Mwangi, 64, grew up in Kangema in Murang'a County, central Kenya, and joined Equity Building Society in 1994, when the mortgage lender was struggling. He became chief executive in 2004 and turned it into Equity Bank, building the business on small savings accounts and loans for low-income Kenyans who had been shut out by traditional banks.

Equity Group is now one of East Africa's largest lenders, with banks in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. Its shares trade on the Nairobi, Uganda and Rwanda stock exchanges. Mwangi is one of the company's largest individual shareholders.

He was named World Entrepreneur of the Year by EY in 2012, the first African to win the award.