Born in 1960, Prof Njuguna Ndung'u has had a high-flying and enviable career - a former Central Bank of Kenya - CBK Governor now poised to be the country's next Treasury Cabinet Secretary.
The Economics professor served as CBK boss for two consecutive four-year terms, from March 2007 until March 2015, making him the first Governor in Kenya to complete two terms since the law on term limits was operationalised.
Prior to his appointment as Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya, Njuguna served as the director of training at the African Economic Research Consortium.
The Consortium is a capacity-building institution that informs economic policies in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The good Professor has lectured on advanced Economics theory and Econometrics at the University of Nairobi as an associate professor of Economics before his nomination to the Ministry.
Further, he has worked as a regional programme specialist for the Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office.
Additionally, he has worked with the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and at the Kenya Institute of Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA), a government think-tank as a Principal Researcher.
During his time as the Principal Researcher, it is when he led a team to develop a macro model for Kenya in 2001 which has been used as a training tool by most countries in the eastern and southern Africa region.
The former CBK Governor is a Member of the Brookings Africa Growth Initiative (AGI) a distinguished advisory group, and a Member of the Advisory Committee of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion, AFI, which coordinates financial inclusion policies in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and a Senior Advisor for the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF).
Prof. Ndung’u has had extensive research and teaching work in various fields apart from economics such as poverty reduction. He has also led a team at the Kenya Institute of Public Policy and Research Analysis (KIPPRA) that developed the KIPPRA-Treasury MacroModel.
The Economics professor has also published articles in international journals as well as chapters in various books on economic policy issues, inflation, interest rate and exchange rate issues, financial management as well as on employment and labour market issues.
He pursued Economics at the University of Nairobi, earning both a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and a Master of Arts in Economics from the same institution. He also holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden.
Njuguna was on Tuesday, September 27 appointed by President William Ruto in his Cabinet. However, his fate entirely lies with the National Assembly.
Should the National Assembly approve Njuguna, will be tasked with heading the powerful Ministry and revive the economy according to President Ruto's agenda.
