Strategy Advisory · Nairobi

Helping leadership teams navigate the decisions that shape their future.

Maye & Associates works with leadership teams facing significant opportunities, challenges, and transitions.

GrowthPerformanceCompetitiveness

We advise financial institutions, corporations, educational institutions, investors, foundations, and development organizations on the questions that determine direction. Our work helps organizations define direction, improve performance, strengthen competitiveness, and pursue sustainable growth.

What we do

Four practices, one discipline.

Each engagement combines strategic analysis, practical experience, stakeholder engagement, and implementation support.

01

Financial Services Strategy

Supporting banks, insurers, pension funds, asset managers, and fintechs as they respond to changing markets, evolving customer expectations, competitive pressure, and new growth opportunities.

02

Corporate Strategy

Helping organizations clarify strategic direction, improve performance, strengthen market position, and prepare for the next stage of growth.

03

Market Development

Working with investors, foundations, industry associations, and market actors to improve market performance, expand access, strengthen institutions, and improve competitiveness.

04

Fraud Risk Management

Helping financial institutions design and strengthen fraud risk frameworks that prevent fraud, improve detection, sharpen governance and accountability, and equip the organization to respond when incidents arise.

The questions we help answer

Organizations engage us when the answer is not yet clear.

01Where should we grow?
02Which customer segments should we prioritize?
03How should we respond to changing competition?
04How can we improve performance?
05What capabilities do we need for the next stage of growth?
06How should we organize ourselves to execute our strategy?
07Which partnerships are worth pursuing?
08How can we strengthen the markets in which we operate?
About the firm

A strategy advisory firm built around decisions that matter.

Organizations engage us when they are confronting important strategic choices, pursuing growth opportunities, entering new markets, improving performance, or responding to changing market conditions.

We believe strategy should improve decision-making, strengthen execution, and produce measurable results. Every assignment is tailored to the client's context, ambitions, and operating environment.

01

Understand

We start with the situation as it is, not as it is assumed to be.

02

Clarify

We define the real challenge and the decision that has to be made.

03

Develop

We build practical options grounded in evidence and judgement.

04

Implement

We support execution so that strategy translates into results.

Financial Services Strategy

Banking, insurance, pensions, asset management, and fintech.

Financial institutions operate amid changing customer expectations, increasing competition, regulatory scrutiny, technological disruption, and evolving business models. We help them respond and position for sustainable growth.

Areas of focus
Corporate Strategy
Growth Strategy
Customer Segmentation
Retail Banking Strategy
SME Banking Strategy
Digital Financial Services
Distribution Strategy
Product Strategy
Partnership Strategy
Market Entry
Transformation Programs
Organizational Effectiveness
Corporate Strategy

Decisions that shape an organization for years to come.

Entering new markets. Launching new products. Responding to competitive pressure. Improving performance. Preparing for growth. We help leadership teams navigate these decisions across sectors.

Areas of focus
Strategic Planning
Growth Strategy
Market Positioning
Customer Strategy
Performance Improvement
Organizational Effectiveness
Leadership Alignment
Business Model Review
Market Entry
Strategic Partnerships
Market Development

Strong organizations operate within strong markets.

Market performance is influenced by institutions, incentives, access to finance, information flows, partnerships, regulation, and capability. We work with organizations seeking to improve the effectiveness, competitiveness, and inclusiveness of markets and sectors.

Areas of focus
Agricultural Finance
Financial Inclusion
Value Chain Development
Market Assessments
Industry Development
Partnership Development
Program Design
Capacity Building
Stakeholder Engagement
Market Systems Strengthening
Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning
Fraud Risk Management

Building resilient institutions through stronger fraud risk management.

Digitization, agency and mobile banking, reliance on third-party providers, and increasing regulatory scrutiny have expanded fraud exposure across financial services. We help institutions design fraud risk frameworks that are practical, proportionate, and aligned with business strategy.

Effective fraud risk management should support growth, customer experience, innovation, and efficiency, not impede them. Our approach is guided by leading international practice while remaining grounded in the realities of African financial institutions, and is scaled to the maturity, complexity, and resources of each client.

01

Assessments & Diagnostics

Enterprise and process-level fraud risk assessments, maturity diagnostics, control reviews, and risk profiling that give the Board and management clear visibility of key exposures.

02

Prevention & Control Design

Control framework design, segregation of duties reviews, process redesign, and reviews of digital customer journeys, from onboarding and authentication to payments and claims.

03

Detection & Monitoring

Risk-based monitoring frameworks, detection rule design, Key Fraud Risk Indicators, transaction and claims monitoring, and fraud trend analysis.

04

Investigations & Response

Structured, objective, and defensible investigation support, root cause and control failure analysis, loss quantification, and post-incident remediation.

05

Governance & Framework

Fraud risk management frameworks, policy development, governance and reporting structures, risk appetite integration, and regulatory alignment.

06

Awareness & Capacity

Staff and Board awareness, specialist investigator training, fraud risk culture initiatives, and ethics and whistleblowing programme support.

Representative experience

Selected assignments.

Our experience spans financial services, education, healthcare, agriculture, manufacturing, technology, and development programs. The following are representative of the work we undertake.

Financial ServicesGrowth Transformation
Challenge

A financial institution sought to accelerate growth, improve competitiveness, and strengthen customer acquisition.

Approach

Review of customer strategy, distribution channels, product portfolio, customer experience, and the underlying drivers of growth.

Outcome

Material growth in customer acquisition, expanded distribution capability, increased transaction activity, and improved business performance.

Financial ServicesCustomer Segmentation
Challenge

A financial institution sought to sharpen market focus and improve the allocation of resources.

Approach

Analysis of customer needs, profitability, behaviour, and market opportunity across the portfolio.

Outcome

A clear segmentation framework, improved targeting, and a stronger basis for strategic focus.

Market EntryEast Africa Expansion
Challenge

An international organization sought to establish operations in East Africa.

Approach

Market assessment, stakeholder mapping, competitive analysis, and development of an entry strategy.

Outcome

A clear market-entry roadmap and an implementation plan ready to execute.

Market DevelopmentAgricultural Finance
Challenge

Limited access to finance constrained participation across agricultural value chains.

Approach

Value chain assessment, lender engagement, product development support, and capacity building.

Outcome

Expanded financing, improved lender capability, and stronger participation across the value chain.

Corporate StrategyStrategic Planning
Challenge

An organization required a clear strategic direction for its next phase of growth.

Approach

Leadership engagement, market analysis, stakeholder consultation, and strategy development.

Outcome

Clear strategic priorities, an implementation roadmap, and alignment across the leadership team.

Perspectives

Commentary on growth, performance, competitiveness, and market development.

Founder

Joe Maye

Joe Maye
Founder
EducationMBA, Arizona State University · BEd Economics, Egerton University
FocusGrowth, performance, competitiveness, transformation, market development, organizational effectiveness
Based inNairobi, Kenya

Joe Maye is the founder of Maye & Associates. His experience spans banking, financial services, fintech, management consulting, and market development across Africa and North America.

Over the course of his career he has held executive leadership positions in banking and financial services, and has advised organizations across financial services, education, healthcare, agriculture, manufacturing, technology, and development sectors.

His work has focused on growth, performance, competitiveness, transformation, market development, and organizational effectiveness.

Contact

If your organization is facing an important strategic decision, we would welcome a conversation.

Tell us what you are working through. We will respond personally.

maye.joe@gmail.com
Maye & Associates · Strategy Advisory
Nairobi, Kenya