Equity CEO bags Oslo business peace award

Equity Group Chief Executive Officer James Mwangi who has been awarded the Oslo Business for Peace Award.

By  Kevin Rotich

What you need to know:

• Saxegaard said Mwangi was given the prize for his business worthy values in championing financial inclusion for all in East and Central Africa.
• Mr Mwangi was chosen by a committee comprising past Nobel Prize winners in Peace and Economics.

Equity Group Chief Executive Officer James Mwangi has been awarded this year’s Oslo Business for Peace Award for his efforts in enhancing financial inclusion in the region.

The award, which has been described as Nobel Prize for Business, is conferred annually to exceptional individuals who exemplify their outstanding business worthy initiatives ethically by creating economic and societal value.

Mr Mwangi was chosen by a committee comprising past Nobel Prize winners in Peace and Economics. They include Ouided Bouchamaoui (Tunisia), Leymah Gbowee (Liberia), Finn Kydland (Norway), and Eric Maskin (USA).

Oslo Business for Peace Award founder Per Saxegaard said Mwangi was given the prize for his business worthy values in championing financial inclusion for all in East and Central Africa.

“Dr Mwangi helped achieve a social revolution by bringing banking services to people who previously had limited access to them, bolstering Kenya’s gross domestic product. The committee sees him as a shining example of how business leaders can accelerate change and help solve the world’s problems,” said Mr Saxegaard.

Mwangi was chosen alongside two other global leaders, Joji Felicitas Pantoja, co-founder of Coffee for Peace in the Philippines, and Marc Benioff of the US who is the chairman and CEO of Salesforce.