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Anne Muraya

CEO, DELOITTE EAST AFRICA

Deloitte East Africa appointed Ms Anne Muraya as CEO effective 1 June 2022. Anne succeeded Joe Eshun, who was appointed as the Deloitte Africa Managing Director for Businesses, where he is overseeing Deloitte’s business functions at an Africa-wide level, relocating to the Johannesburg office for the new position.

With this appointment, Anne became the first female CEO for Deloitte East Africa, overseeing Deloitte’s offices in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, and other East Africa locations the firm serves, including but not limited to Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Somalia.

Prior this role, Anne was also the first female East Africa Audit Leader and Managing Director for Responsible Business and Public Policy for Africa.

Anne took the CEO role at Deloitte East Africa at a historic time for the Deloitte Africa firm, joining Deloitte Africa CEO, Ruwayda Redfearn, and Deloitte Africa Board Chair, Delia Ndlovu as senior female executives leading the Deloitte Africa business. “These appointments are not only a continuation of our transformation journey, but a reflection of the firm’s commitment to living our Shared Values, particularly “Leading the Way” and “Fostering Inclusion,” said the outgoing Deloitte Africa CEO, Lwazi Bam.

The immediate former Deloitte East Africa CEO Joe Eshun said, “We have spent the last four years setting the foundations for the growth of our business by focusing on client service excellence, shaping the right culture aligned with our Deloitte Shared Values and ensuring operational efficiency. I am excited to hand over the torch to Anne Muraya and we are confident that she will be a force in driving Deloitte forward in an exciting, but also challenging post-pandemic environment.”

Ms Muraya started her career as an auditor at Deloitte in 1994, after completing her Bachelor of Education (B.Ed. in Science) degree in Mathematics and Chemistry at Kenyatta University. Anne subsequently rose to partnership in 2009, where she built a wealth of audit and accounting experience within the banking and financial services, manufacturing, agriculture and retail industries. During her time as partner, she was also the National Professional Practice Director for the East Africa practice, leading technical consultations on audit methodology and IFRS.

Anne was appointed as East Africa Audit Leader in 2017, in charge of 12 audit partners and over 200 staff across the region, overseeing audit quality; talent management; client service and profitability of the Audit and Assurance business.

Ms Muraya is a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK) where she sits on the Professional Standards Committee, and a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU).

In December 2020, Anne was inducted into the college of Fellows of ICPAK in recognition of services rendered to the profession. In 2021, she was appointed the Africa Managing Partner for Responsible Business and Public Policy. Ms Muraya has also been a member of the Deloitte Global Advisory Council, selected as one of 30 partners globally to act as a sounding board for the Deloitte Global CEO.

In accepting the position, Anne stated, “It is an honour to be appointed to this role. I am excited about working with our teams to serve our clients and continue to contribute to the growth in the profession, and the whole reporting ecosystem. It is also important to me that we work with our people and our clients to impact the communities we live in by being part of the solution in matters of climate change and social and economic inequality.”

Anne’s thoughts on people and culture are best expressed by a number of her posts on LinkedIn, ‘Many people are not ready for their lucky break when it comes to them.’

‘Develop your skills. Study your craft. Save some money. Build a network before you need it. Lay the ground work.’ This one is apt, as a motivational mantra for the young upcoming executives. According to James Clear, a celebrated writer, entrepreneur and behaviour science expert, as quoted by Ms Muraya, ‘The prepared person is positioned to benefit from unexpected opportunities.’

James Clear is the author of the no. 1 New York Times bestseller, Atomic Habits. He is a writer and speaker focused on habits, decision making and continuous improvement.