Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa during an interview at Standard Group headquarters in Nairobi on June 12, 2020. Business News
Mr. Ndegwa said he would like to work with banks and like-minded institutions to speed up recovery of the businesses
The new Safaricom Chief Executive Officer Peter Ndegwa has a plan to support small businesses bounce back to life from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. On Friday, Mr. Ndegwa said he would like to work with banks and like-minded institutions to speed up recovery of the businesses. “One of the big areas I would like to focus on is Small and Medium Enterprises. How we can work together with banks and likeminded institutions so that SMEs come back (from the pandemic)? If SMEs come back, the economy will come back, employment will come back and the country will be back on track,” said Ndegwa. Broadly he also said he will prioritise the interests of Kenyans during his tenure as the third Chief Executive Officer of East Africa’s leading telecommunication company. “Safaricom has been successful because Kenya has supported Safaricom. My primary objective is to make sure that I look after the interest of Kenyans. We are looking at breakthrough areas that can impact the greater population. For me, the special thing about Safaricom is, our DNA is about serving Kenyans and making sure that our commercial objectives also serve a social and economic need,” he said. The Safaricom CEO spoke on Friday when he paid a courtesy call to the Standard Group CEO Orlando Lyomu. The two business leaders explored ways that the two firms can partner. Mr Lyomu said the companies were looking at partnering in different areas by developing solutions that can help the society. Safaricom has bid for one of the two telecommunications licences that are up for grabs in neighbouring Ethiopia and hopes the tendering process will be completed towards the end of this or early next year. The country’s Communication Authority late last month invited international firms to bid for the two licences. Safaricom, which has had its sight on Ethiopia for some time now, on Friday said it had put in an expression of interest, with expectations that the process of selecting the companies to set up operations in the country would be complete in 2021. Ndegwa said the decision by the Ethiopian government might however be delayed due to complications occasioned by the […]
