Pomp and colour graced the Chandaria Auditorium at the University of Nairobi Towers on March 10, 2023. The University of Nairobi students and management led by the Vice Chancellor Prof. Stephen Kiama converged to hear a story of resilience and patience from a renowned business mogul. Family Bank Founder Titus K. Muya, popularly referred as TK, was delighted to give a public lecture on The Role of the Entrepreneurial Culture in Building a Strong Economy: The case of Family Bank from 1984 to date.
TK Muya, who was in the company of his family, friends, Family Bank and The Family Group Foundation management and staff and representatives from his various businesses, recounted his dream of starting a bank having begun in 1961 as a young 18-year-old man. He recalled reading a business article in an international magazine which sparked his interest in starting and owning a home-grown bank.
After completing his high school studies and securing a job, he remained in the same position for years due to lack of higher education. With such challenges, he wanted to give up on his dream but remained resilient seeing that he was the sole bread winner of his family.
It is at this point he decided to embark on his dream of opening a bank fifteen years later. He was determined to open a bank and would visit the National Treasury every Thursday for four years to follow up on his bank license application. However, his license application was turned down. Determined to make his dream a reality, he was advised to start with a building society to which Family Finance Building Society was born.
Family Finance Building Society continued to grow and by 2005 the institution had over 30 branches across the country. In the year 2007 Family Finance Building Society officially converted to a bank after receiving a go ahead from The Central Bank of Kenya. Family Bank is currently the 14th largest bank in Kenya and fourth largest bank in terms of branch network. With 93 branches across the country and an asset base of KES. 130 million, Family Bank now employs over 1500 staff and has three more branches under constructions.
As he recapped on the lessons learnt during his entrepreneurial journey, he encouraged the budding students to never give up.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to encourage you to never give up on your dream. Be patient in what you do, put in the effort and always go an extra mile. As you progress as an entrepreneur, also learn to give others an opportunity to grow by recognizing when to leave the table and let others bring in new ideas,” he said.
