This archive report was first published on 2 July 2019.
July 2, 2019, marked a somber day for Kenyans as they woke up to the news of the passing of Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore, who had been battling Acute Myeloid Leukemia for a long time.
Collymore had been at the helm of the telecommunications giant for over 12 years, initially set to retire in August 2019 but extending his tenure by a year to 2020.
During his tenure, Collymore played a pivotal role in transforming Safaricom into one of the most profitable companies in the region, thanks to the massive success of the mobile money transfer service M-Pesa.
Under his leadership, Safaricom's share price skyrocketed by over 400% to 28.00 shillings ($0.28), while the customer base expanded from 19 million to 30 million subscribers between 2015 and 2019.
As of December 2018, Safaricom controlled approximately 64.2% of the Kenyan telcos market share.
Collymore's leadership also saw Safaricom announce a growth in net profit of Sh63.4 billion in its fiscal year that ended on March 31, 2019, a 14.7% increase from the previous year's Sh45.1 billion.
The company's total revenue also increased by 7% to Sh240.3 billion during the same period.
One of Safaricom's latest products, Fuliza, a micro-credit product launched in partnership with CBA and KCB, issued Sh6.2 billion in its first month of operation.
