Ms Ilanna Darcy, the Safaricom interim CFO. PHOTO | COURTESY Safaricom has appointed Ilanna Darcy as the interim chief financial officer, replacing Sateesh Kamath who is leaving to take up a similar role at a subsidiary of the telco’s parent company Vodafone Group Plc.
Ms Darcy has been the head of finance planning, analysis and investor relations at the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firm since February 2017.
“Following my earlier announcement on the appointment of Sateesh Kamath as the chief finance officer, Vodafone Business, I am pleased to announce that I have appointed Ilanna Darcy to the position of chief finance officer in an interim capacity effective July 1, 2020,” Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said in a statement.
Ms Darcy is a graduate of University College Dublin and has more than 20 years’ experience, including senior finance roles at Caribbean mobile phone network and home entertainment provider Digicel Group.
She has been credited with automating Safaricom’s reporting processes besides marketing the telco’s stock to international investors who trade large volumes of the company’s shares on the Nairobi bourse.
Most of Safaricom’s CEOs and CFOs have been picked from Vodafone Group but there have been exceptions to this trend.
Former CFO Chris Tiffin, for instance, was hired from a similar position at mobile phone firm Celtel Nigeria.
According to previous disclosures, Vodafone had the power to appoint Safaricom’s CFO and CEO based on a shareholders’ agreement with the Kenyan government.
The powers were vested in the multinational’s local investment vehicle Vodafone Kenya Limited through which it holds Safaricom shares.
“The agreement provided that whenever officers were seconded from Vodafone Group Plc, the Director representing Vodafone Kenya Limited would nominate the said officers pursuant to the shareholders agreement (as amended),”says the telco’s 2008 listing prospectus.