(Bloomberg) -- Standard Bank Group Ltd.’s Kenyan Unit is in talks to hire Joshua Oigara, former head of one of East Africa’s second largest lender, as its chief executive, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Stanbic Bank Kenya Ltd.’s board is likely to announce the plan to replace current Chief Executive Officer Charles Mudiwa before his five-year term expires in December, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information isn’t public. 

Oigara declined to comment on Monday, while Mudiwa didn’t respond when contacted on Tuesday. Senior bank appointments are required to be endorsed by the central bank. 

Oigara was until May the group chief executive of KCB Group, Kenya’s second-biggest bank with presence in six African markets. He took over the partly state-owned listed lender in 2013 as one of the youngest bank chiefs in Kenya. 

KCB Group Appoints Paul Russo Chief of Kenya’s Biggest Bank

Stanbic Bank Kenya said on Sept. 27 that it was “not in a position to comment,” on the matter. 

The Nairobi-based lender is the second best performing stock on the Nairobi Securities Exchange 20 Index, having risen 10.6% year-to-date, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

(Updates with stock performance in final paragraph)

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