Kenyan elected President of African committee of deposit insurers
Monday March 15 2021
Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC) CEO Mohamud Ahmed Mohamud. PHOTO | FILE | NMG
The Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (KDIC) Chief Executive, Mohamud Ahmed Mohamud, has been elected the new Chairman and President of the African committee of deposit insurers.
Mr Mohamud’s unanimous endorsement now puts Kenya at the helm of the African Regional Committee (ARC) of the International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI) for the next two years.
He takes over from his Nigerian counterpart, Mr Ibrahim Umaru of NDIC, following the expiry of his term.
The appointment marks a sign of confidence that global deposit insurance schemes have in East Africa’s nascent deposit insurance schemes and the reforms that the KDIC has put in place towards resolving problem banks and preventing further bank failures in Kenya.
Mr Mohamud becomes the first Kenyan in history to chair the regional body, ARC-IADI.
The astute and seasoned deposit insurance expert, who also chairs IADI Member Relations Committee, was elected during a virtual Annual General Meeting of the IADI on March 12 held in Basel, Switzerland.
The move comes as KDIC continues to streamline its operations aimed at achieving its mandate of providing a deposit insurance scheme for member institutions, providing incentives for sound risk management and fostering the stability of the financial system.
As a result, the Corporation will from July 1, 2021 start implementing the highly anticipated Risk-Based Premium model that will see banks with higher risk exposures pay increased premiums.
Already KDIC has rolled out the increased deposit coverage limit of Ksh500,000($4,587) per depositor from Ksh100,000 ($917).
The ARC is a forum for deposit insurers from Africa where members gather as well as share knowledge and expertise on deposit protection to enhance stability of the banking industries in respective countries.
It provides training and educational programmes and produces research and guidance on matters related to deposit insurance.
In addition, ARC ensures continuous sharing of knowledge through capacity building and events among members.
It also promotes seamless cooperation and continuous sharing of expertise among member countries.