Beatrice Njeru began her career at Stanbic Bank in 2004, and joined the investment banking arm of the business in 2008 as senior legal counsel and is responsible for deal execution in the East African region in what she states has turned out to be ‘an exciting career full of many valuable experiences’.

In her current role Njeru oversees the development, analysis, structuring, negotiation and closing of transactions in diverse sectors and product areas, including project finance, debt capital markets, diversified lending and corporate finance. Njeru is also an advocate of the High Court of Kenya and is also qualified as an accountant and company secretary.

When she joined the bank in 2004, the legal department was smaller in comparison to today, and this helped mould her as a professional by giving her the chance to get involved in all areas of law that were relevant to the bank and liaise with stakeholders both internally and externally as necessary. She highlights ‘the knowledge and experience gained during that period including of the different products offered by banks, [the] regulatory framework and compliance requirements on banks and clients and most importantly, the relationship networking’, all of which she claims has ‘been a valuable part in building knowledge, expertise and useful contacts that have all been very helpful in my current role’.

Although her role is transaction-based, by engaging in relevant training across the bank relating to financing, Njeru has partnered with specialists to deliver a number of training sessions with enhanced course content that has consequently enhanced the internal knowledge base and assisted in delivering uniquely structured products to clients. Njeru has been involved in many important transactions including some in the health care sector which have facilitated the provision of medical equipment and related services for hospitals in the country.

Reflecting on the professional fulfilment of her tasks Njeru says: ‘It’s often a long and challenging journey to close projects, but it is very motivating to see the contribution that projects arranged or financed by Stanbic bring to the economy when they are finally built and begin to operate successfully’.