Group Managing Director & CEO Titus Naikuni graduated from the University of Nairobi in 1979 with a BSc (Honours) degree in Mechanical Engineering. He immediately joined the Magadi Soda Company, a soda-ash manufacturing organization in Kenya, as a trainee engineer. After successfully completing his training within the organization in Kenya, and also in the UK with Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), the parent company of Magadi Soda, he got appointed into a managerial role.

He rose through the ranks to eventually become the CEO of the company in 1995. In his capacity as CEO of the company, he put a lot of focus on growing the business in South East Asia, Africa, India and the Middle East with remarkable success.

One of the most quoted of his achievements is the setting up of Magadi Rail, a private railroad operation that transports all production out of the factory to the port of Mombasa, a distance of 600 kms. This innovative idea not only saved the company from closure due to inefficiencies of the state railway that used to provide transportation, but also enabled the company to increase its output by 50% in the last 8 years.

In recognition of his performance at Magadi, he, with the support of the World Bank and Donor Community, was seconded to the Government of Kenya as part of a team of six people from the private sector to turnaround the economic management of the country. Titus served as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Transport and Communications. During his two years tenure in government, he led the licensing of two mobile phone operators in the country. He was also instrumental in restructuring the running of the Kenya Ports Authority, a state parastatal that manages the main port of Mombasa, resulting in it making profits sustainably after years of loss-making.

He rejoined Magadi Soda Company as CEO in 2001 after his stint in government where he worked until February 2003, when he joined Kenya Airways where he took over as CEO and he is still in this role to date.

Titus is a PMD71 graduate of the Harvard Business School.