Abdi Mohamed has officially resigned as Chief Executive Officer of Absa Bank Kenya, drawing the curtain on a three-year stint at the helm of one of the country’s leading commercial banks. Mohamed took up the position on May 1, 2023, and his departure adds to a string of high-profile executive moves reshaping Kenya’s banking landscape this year.
While Absa Bank has yet to make a formal announcement about Mohamed’s next chapter, sources within the industry indicate he is heading to another Kenyan lender, with I&M Bank being floated in banking circles — though that particular link has not been officially confirmed. As the search for a permanent successor gets underway, Chief Financial Officer Yusuf Omari is expected to step in as interim CEO. It would not be the first time Omari has held the fort: he took on a similar acting role in 2022 when former CEO Jeremy Awori left the bank to lead Ecobank.
By most operational measures, Mohamed leaves behind a bank in better shape than he found it. His tenure saw the cost-to-income ratio drop from 41 percent in 2023 to 37 percent by the end of 2025, a sign of tighter cost discipline even as revenues came under pressure. Central Bank of Kenya monetary policies squeezed interest income across the sector during this period, forcing Absa — like many of its peers — to look beyond traditional lending for sustainable earnings growth.
Mohamed’s answer to that challenge was a deliberate push into non-traditional financial services. Under his watch, the bank expanded its offerings in bancassurance, asset management, custody services, and brokerage. The payoff was significant: those revenue lines collectively jumped from just 1 percent of the bank’s total income in 2024 to 5 percent in 2025, a trajectory that points to a meaningfully different earnings mix going forward.
Mohamed’s exit arrives at a consequential moment in Absa Bank Kenya’s ownership story. Parent company Absa Group has tabled a Sh31 billion offer to lift its stake in the Kenyan unit from 68.5 percent to 85 percent, with the offer set to close on August 11. The timing means whoever assumes the CEO’s seat — on an interim or permanent basis — will be steering the bank through a period of significant structural change.
His closing quarter, however, was a rough one. First-quarter 2026 profit figures showed a 13.9 percent decline to Sh5.3 billion, as net interest income fell 7.9 percent and non-interest income slid 5.2 percent. The numbers are a reminder of just how difficult the operating environment has become for Kenyan banks, even those that have invested heavily in diversification.
Mohamed’s resignation is part of a broader wave of C-suite departures across the Kenyan banking sector in 2026, as institutions adapt to a rapidly shifting regulatory and economic climate — and prepare for a new generation of leadership.
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