Co-op CEO bags third honour for contribution to banking

Cooperative Bank Chief Executive Officer Gideon Muriuki is set to receive his third honorary doctorate from the Africa International University in recognition of his contribution to the banking industry.

The public notice by the university said he will be conferred the Doctorate of Humane Letters (Honoris Causa) –DLitt at the institution’s graduation ceremony on Friday.

“This conferment of Doctor of Humane Letters is in recognition of his illustrious and long-standing career in banking: historic turnaround of the Co-operative Bank of Kenya … contribution to the cooperative movement in Kenya and Africa,” the university said in the notice.

Mr Muriuki received his first honorary doctorate in 2011 from Kabarak University in Business Leadership and was awarded a second one from the Co-operative University of Kenya early this year.

The Africa International University also cited “his enduring commitment to sustainable finance and inclusive growth practices; exemplary service to the nation.”

The conferment of a Doctor of Humane Letters is scheduled to take place during the 37th graduation ceremony of Africa International university to be held on Friday 4, November 2022, at the Karen campus.

The institution is a chartered Christian university started in 1983 by the Association of Evangelicals in Africa (AEA) as the Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology.

Mr Muriuki has worked at Cooperative Bank for over two decades since 1996 when he started as a senior corporate manager and then became director, of corporate and institutional banking in 1999 before his appointment as managing director in 2001.

Last year, Mr Muriuki was named CEO of the Year in the 2021 African Banking Awards by the EMEA Finance magazine.

He was feted for several reasons including “retaining employees and continued payment of dividends while demonstrating resilience in the Covid-19 pandemic era.”