This archive report was first published on 24 October 2019.
Safaricom Appoints Peter Ndegwa as CEO ¶
On October 24, 2019, Safaricom announced the appointment of Peter Ndegwa as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective April 1, 2020.
Ndegwa 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.
Before joining Safaricom, Ndegwa was the Managing Director of Diageo Continental Europe, overseeing operations in 50 countries in Western and Eastern Europe, Russia, the Middle East, and North Africa.
He has 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.
Ndegwa also served as Group Chief Finance Officer (CFO), Group Strategy Director, Sales Director, and Executive Director on the EABL Board, where he was part of the team that saw the EABL business more than double in value and win the Most Respected Business Award in East Africa for five years in a row.
He is credited with the development of an affordable-beer strategy for EABL, resulting in the production of new brands such as Senator beer, which became one of the most successful innovations by Diageo featured in the Harvard Business Review.
Ndegwa holds an MBA from the London Business School and a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Nairobi. He is also a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK).
According to Nicholas Nganga, Chairman of Safaricom PLC, '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.'
