Meet John Ngumi, Kenya's Top Multi-Billion Deal Maker

There are many Kenyans who are famous for their prowess in striking business deals, but little is known about John Ngumi, a seasoned investment banker behind deals worth billions of shillings.

Ngumi, who is currently the Chairman of State-owned Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC), has brokered huge financial deals in the north of $8.6 billion (Sh860 billion) over the years he spent in the banking sector.

Although working at KPC means he no longer strike such deals anymore, the banker in him still retains a nose for a good deal.

“I cannot do any private deal in the oil and gas industry yet I see a number of deals. I can smell them. This pipeline will cost billions of dollars. I would love to be the man to raise the money,” he told the Standard.

The 63-year-old is credited for brokering numerous landmark multi-sectoral deals in East Africa, but, what does it take to be a successful deal maker?

“It takes a lot of guts to raise money. In 2014, I told Mo Ibrahim that if I didn’t raise $10 million (Sh1 billion) for him, he would receive a copy of my resignation letter,” he says of one of the deals he has successfully brokered.

He kick started his career in 1980 as a trainee at the National Westminster Bank Plc in London and has worked in other banks such as Grindlays Bank International, Citibank, Barclays Bank and Standard Bank (now Stanbic)

He has struck deals for companies such as Safaricom, which out-muscled Airtel Kenya (then Celtel) to become Kenya's leading telecommunications firm. He says he's too attached to the art of deal-making that up to date he sees deals that he could seal and pocket millions of shillings, except that he is out of trade now.

Five years before joining the state-owned oil company, Ngumi was the joint lead arranger for KPC’s $84 million (Sh8.4 billion) medium-term syndicated loan, which became the higest ever non-government guaranteed commercial bank financing to a state-owned enterprise in Kenya. 

While still at Stanbic, he led a consortium of banks to raising $350 million (Sh35 billion) to finance KPC’s new line dubbed line V. He accepted President Uhuru’s offer to be KPC's chairman in 2015, sacrificing what he termed as a multi-million-shilling pay package.

In 2014, Ngumi was in the mix when Kenya tapped into the international market for its first $2 billion (Sh200 billion) Eurobond issue which was later increased to Sh275 billion via a tap sale.

He was also the lead arranger alongside Barclays Bank Plc, JP Morgan and Qatar National Bank that led to the oversubscribed bond that entered history as the highest debut bond for an African nation in the sovereign bond market. He considers the Eurobond among the best in the many deals he sealed, since it introduced Kenya to the international capital market. 

In April 2005 he sealed a deal for Faulu Kenya, where he was the sole arranger of $5 million (Sh500 million) medium-term note issue, which remains the only ever bond issue for a microfinance entity in Africa.

 “I am very proud of that. That is the single most important deal for me. It is a shame that we have never followed up with any other issue,” he says.

The banker was also the sole arranger of the historic Tanzania’s $250 million (Sh25 billion) syndicated loan in 2011, becoming the first time the country accessed the international capital market on a commercial basis. 

In October 2006, he was the sole arranger of Tanzania Electricity Supply Company Ltd’s $40 million (Sh40 billion) bridge facility. The deal was named as the deal of the year by The Banker Magazine, a 1962-founded monthly international financial affairs publication owned by The Financial Times.

Three years later, he followed it up as their sole arranger of $29 million (Sh2.9 billion) medium-term syndicated loan. 

In February 2008, Ngumi was also the joint lead arranger for Celtel Tanzania Ltd (now Airtel Tanzania) raising $270 million (Sh27 billion) through a syndicated term loan. To date, the deal remains the largest ever corporate financing in Tanzania.

 In 1989, he was the single planner who helped the Kenyan government put $26 million (Sh2.6 billion) medium-term certificates on the New York Stock Exchange, becoming the country's first-ever securities’ issuance in the international capital market.

 In 2001, Ngumi served as vice president and assistant general manager for public sector and corporate finance at Citibank NA and became the sole arranger of the note guarantee and joint lead manager for Safaricom’s $40 million (Sh4 billion) bond issue, which became the largest ever corporate bond issue in the country at that time.

 It was voted as the African Telecom deal of the year by Project Finance, a global magazine for project and infrastructure finance. 

“At that time, Safaricom had about 16,000 subscribers. It was very hard to convince people but we made it. I regard that as one of the pillars for the success of Safaricom,” he said.