Jack Ngare, MD Finserve Africa, an independent commercial fintech arm of Equity Bank Group, has been appointed MD Microsoft’s Africa Development Centre in Nairobi, Kenya.
Launched in May 2019, the ADC works with engineers on key issues for Kenya, Africa and the rest of the world. The ADC gives Kenyan talent the opportunity to work on cutting-edge technology, creating solutions for local and global impact, while reinforcing the countries’ position as a leading digital innovation hub. Microsoft engineers in Kenya will able to do meaningful work from their home country, while still being part of a global engineering and development organisation.
The ADC aims to help Microsoft to better listen to its customers, develop locally and scale for global impact. It’s also an opportunity to engage further with partners, academia, governments and developers – driving impact in sectors important to the continent, such as FinTech, AgriTech and OffGrid energy.
“The ADC is unlike any other existing investment on the continent, helping us better listen to our customers, develop locally and scale for global impact,” says Mike Fortin, corporate vice president at Microsoft and the leader who established the first ADC engineering team in Nairobi. “We’ve been adding to our team of engineers aggressively, and to have Jack leading this talented group is fantastic.”
With more than 15 years of experience in various business functions, Ngare brings a wealth of in-depth knowledge around topics like management, telecommunications, financial services and emerging technology. Prior to his work at Finserve Africa, Ngare held position at Stanbic Bank, NIC Bank, as well as spending seven years at British Telecom with assignments in the UK, Saudi Arabia, Peru and Japan.
He holds a Master’s degree in management from Harvard University, a Master’s degree in advanced computer science and a Bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Leicester.
“This is such an incredible opportunity, to join an organisation that is truly empowering people globally, and in Africa, to achieve more. I can’t wait to start my new journey as managing director and proud to lead such a talented team in Nairobi. I also look forward to welcoming many more talented engineers to the centre as we all embark on this wonderful digital transformation journey,” concludes Ngare.
Ngare saw Finserve Africa launch mKey, a keyboard app that allows users to save, borrow and connect with their friends and follow news and trends in one place.
Targeted at Kenya’s increasingly digital population, mKey users can perform daily tasks such as accessing local and international news, getting aggregated local content, sharing on social media, applying for and paying mobile loans, paying for goods and services, sending and receiving money as well as a chama and group accounts that work like social chat groups, straight from their mKey keyboard.
Ngare also announced that Finserve Africa was set to work with over 2000 SMEs from East and Central Africa to use its application programming interface (APIs) to craft innovative products and services that meet current consumer taste and preferences therefore boosting their businesses.
As the MD Finserve Africa, Mr. Jack Ngare said they were happy to note that entrepreneurs, many of them start-ups and SMEs, have taken advantage of the firm’s open APIs, to design innovative products and services that are now boosting businesses across the region. Its such experience that led to Ngare’s appointment to run Microsofts ADC.
Launched in September 2017, Finserve’s APIs have supported many developers including those managing airtime sales, logistics, payments, cash management services among others.
Ngare was MD Finserve Africa when it introduced the Jenga Payment Gateway to allow firms to online and mobile payments from a host of payment channels such as American Express, Visa, MasterCard, Diners, JCB, Union Pay and other card associations from 180 countries, and from mobile wallets from 7 countries across East & Central Africa such as Alipay and Wechat.
