NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 14 – The Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) has appointed Geoffrey Monari as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective March 13, 2025.

In a statement, HELB Chairman David Ethure emphasized that Monari’s appointment would steer HELB toward continued excellence in serving students and stakeholders with integrity.

“The Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Geoffrey Monari as the new Chief Executive Officer [CEO] effective 13th March 2025,” he stated.

Ethure expressed confidence in Monari’s leadership, citing his extensive experience and deep understanding of the higher education financing sector.

“The Board is confident that Mr. Monari’s vast experience, leadership acumen and deep understanding of the higher education financing landscape will provide the vision and leadership necessary to propel HELB to new heights,” he said.

Since 2020, he has served as the founding CEO of the Universities Fund, where he played a key role in shaping policies and funding models for universities.

Before that, Monari was the Chief Operations Officer (COO) at HELB from 2016 to 2020.

During his tenure, he spearheaded major initiatives including student lending, debt management, resource mobilization, and stakeholder engagement, significantly strengthening the institution’s operations.

Monari takes over at a critical time, with the government being urged to address delays in loan disbursements to students.

The lending agency has attributed the delays to budgetary constraints, rising demand for financial aid, and difficulties recovering loans from past beneficiaries.

HELB, established in 1995 to provide affordable loans to university and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) students, has faced growing criticism over recurrent disbursement delays in recent years.