N Justin Chinyanta: A Pan-African Plan Hatched Back in 1992, with a Dream

The Loita Group chair and co-founder had a clear ambition in mind from the word go…

N Justin Chinyanta, chair and co-founder of the Loita Group, set the foundations of the group in place back in 1992 with the aim of creating a leading African investment banking and fintech group.

The entrepreneur, banker and lawyer started with a suitably noble name: Loita. It is derived from Kenya’s Loita Naimina Enkio Forest, a diverse wild space preserved by the local Maasai community. Many of Kenya’s early independence struggles were launched from the forest, and it remains a symbol of a rich, emerging Africa.

Loita Group was founded in Kenya by a group of international bankers, and has since grown to deserve that “pan-African” status.

The headquarters are in the island of Mauritius, with a team of professionals from around the world. Justin Chinyanta serves as chief executive of its Mauritius-based subsidiary Loita Capital Partners International.

He formerly held senior positions at the Africa regional offices of Citibank and HSBC Bank’s Equator, which co-founded Loita as a then-special purpose vehicle.

Chinyanta serves on several boards outside the group, including the New York-based Global Centre on Co-operative Security, Australia-based Commonwealth Study Conference Leaders, and Nigeria- and South Africa-based Africa Business Roundtable.

He is the past chair of Zambia’s National Housing Authority, a member of the Prince of Edinburgh’s Commonwealth Study Conference Leaders Forum, a fellow at Harvard University’s Weatherhead Centre for International Affairs, and an advocate of the High Court of Zambia.

He holds an LLB degree from the University of Zambia and a graduate degree in international business transactions and financial law from the Fletcher School at Tufts University in the United States.