This archive report was first published on 24 October 2019.
On October 24, 2019, Safaricom announced the appointment of Peter Ndegwa as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective April 1, 2020. Ndegwa will succeed the late Bob Collymore, following Michael Joseph's stint as Acting CEO.
Ndegwa joins Safaricom from Diageo PLC, where he is the Managing Director of Diageo Continental Europe. He brings over 25 years of experience in General Management, Commercial and Business Strategy, Sales and Finance Operations, having worked in various roles within the Financial Services and Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sectors in Africa and Europe.
At Diageo PLC, Ndegwa oversees operations in 50 countries in Western and Eastern Europe, Russia, the Middle East, and North Africa. He previously served as CEO of Guinness Nigeria PLC and Guinness Ghana Breweries PLC, where he transformed the operations to deliver double-digit growth by investing in people, introducing new brands, and reorganizing the businesses.
Before joining Diageo, Ndegwa worked at EABL (a Diageo subsidiary) in Nairobi, where he held various senior executive director roles, including Group Chief Finance Officer (CFO), Group Strategy Director, Sales Director, and Executive Director on the EABL Board. During his tenure, the EABL business more than doubled in value, and the company won the Most Respected Business Award in East Africa for five consecutive years.
Ndegwa is credited with developing an affordable-beer strategy for EABL, resulting in the production of new brands such as Senator beer. Senator beer became one of the most successful innovations by Diageo, featured in the Harvard Business Review.
He holds an MBA from the London Business School and a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Nairobi. Ndegwa is also a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK).
According to Nicholas Nganga, Safaricom's Board Chairman, 'We are confident that Peter will carry on our vision of transforming lives while keeping us focused on meeting our customers' needs and holding us to our new commitment of being Simple, Transparent, and Honest.'
