Nairobi — Safaricom has picked its former CEO Michael Joseph as its new board chair effective August 1, 2020, even as he retains his position as Kenya Airways chair.
Joseph replaces Nicholas Ng’ang’a who has retired after being at the helm of the board for a period of 13 years.
The telco’s Chief Executive Office Peter Ndegwa in a statement announced that Joseph will have the mandate of handling customer sentiment, greater brand consideration, and to bolster the firm’s digital transformation agenda.
"He brings a wealth of skills and industry knowledge given his contribution to the growth of Safaricom from very humble beginnings to becoming one of the most innovative, influential and profitable companies in the East African region," Ndegwa said.
Joseph was the firm’s first Chief Executive Officer, a position he took up in July 2000 when the company was re-launched as a joint venture between Vodafone UK and Telkom Kenya.
He joined the firm’s board on September 8, 2008.
Under his leadership as CEO, Joseph steered the company from a subscriber base of less than 20,000 to over 16.71 million subscribers.
Last year, Joseph resumed the CEO position, but under an interim capacity, after the death of his successor Bob Collymore.
Currently, Joseph is the Kenya Airways board chair and is also Vodafone’s Strategic Advisor, appointed to the Boards of Vodacom Group South Africa, Vodacom Tanzania and Vodacom Mozambique.