[ATTACH=full]454257[/ATTACH]
In 1994, Ngumi alongside four partners birthed the Loita Capital Partner
It partly oversaw the placing of the first-ever listed corporate bond issue at the then Nairobi Stock Exchange - the East African Development Bank’s Sh820 million bond.
LAM would also be the first to attract foreign portfolio investors following the liberalisation of the bourse’s controls through the placing of 2.5 per cent of NIC Bank Ltd’s shares with a US investor.
They also raised capital for the Sh1 billion Acacia Fund, Kenya’s first venture capital fund.
LAM also did some of the first black empowerment deals in South Africa, as well as various trade finance-related deals in Malawi and Zimbabwe.
It also created Kenya’s first weekly investment analysis, which is now popular with brokers, according to Ngumi.
Loita Capital was also the financial advisor to scores of top firms, such as East African Breweries Ltd (EABL), Industrial Promotion Services (IPS) and Housing Finance Company of Kenya (HFCK) that has since rebranded to Housing Finance (HF).
In 2000, Ngumi would return to banking following the entrepreneurial misadventures to work in Citibank’s corporate finance unit. He said rejoining employment enabled him to repay his loans.
“That’s when we did the Safaricom deals and the big bond issues. We really went all out,” said Ngumi. In 2001, he was the sole arranger and joint lead manager of the Sh4 billion Safaricom bond, which at the time was Kenya’s largest-ever corporate bond issue.
In 2020, President Uhuru Kenyatta appointed him as chairman of the ICDC board.
ICDC is now set to oversee Kenya’s largest parastatals with assets worth over Sh685 billion and Sh72 billion annual revenue.
This is after operations of State entities, including Kenya Pipeline, Kenya Railways and Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), were brought under ICDC’s control through an outfit called the Kenya Transport and Logistics Network (KLDN).
This is his second stint at ICDC, having served as director for a year and a half in 1997 before he was pushed out.
He was also an initial board member of the Communications Authority of Kenya and the inaugural chair of Konza Technocity Development Authority.
He said his appointment to government agencies is not about being politically connected but is purely on merit, having worked on its syndicated loans and even arranging the Eurobond.
Ngumi terms it a “myth” that he chairs many State entities.
“People make a big song and dance about it. Currently, I only chair ICDC, Wananchi Group, Carepay Kenya and I’m a non-executive director at KQ (Kenya Airways) and the Base Titanium board,” he said.
Ngumi cited his best deal as being the sole arranger of the Sh500 million Faulu Kenya medium-term note issue, the only bond issue for a microfinance in Africa that showed the power of the capital markets even in addressing those viewed as unaddressable.