Dr. Benard Chitunga is the youngest Chancellor in Kenya, at 36 years old. He was appointed Chancellor of the Co-operative University, as per the Gazette notice dated January 10, 2025. He is the second Chancellor of the Cooperative University of Kenya, succeeding the Late Hon. John Nyagah.

Dr. Chitunga is currently a Partnership Specialist and Secretariat for Special Funds Management at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), based in Beijing, China. AIIB is a multilateral development bank and international financial institution, comprising 109 member countries. It is dedicated to supporting the development of future-ready infrastructure – referred to as Infrastructure for Tomorrow (i4t) – with a strong emphasis on sustainability, innovation, and connectivity.

Before joining AIIB, Dr. Chitunga held the role of Senior Officer for Partnerships, Donors, and Special Projects at the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. In this capacity, he played a central role as the Bank’s Secretariat for its USD 5 billion Affirmative Finance Special and Trust Funds. He led the task team during the establishment of the funds in 2018.

The chancellor is also an African Leadership Fellow at the School of Transnational Governance of the European University Institute in Italy. He holds a PhD in Management from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, an MBA from UGSM Monarch Business School in Switzerland, a Master’s in Global Business and Sustainability – Social Entrepreneurship from Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Italy, and a Postgraduate qualification in Development Strategy and Governance from the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom.