It goes with the territory. So, big job, giant challenges: Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa. When Peter Ndegwa takes office tomorrow as the new Safaricom chief executive officer, his every move will be closely scrutinised. His words and deeds, however small or off-the-cuff, will instantly spread and be amplified. Occasionally, his sentiments will be misinterpreted. For Mr Ndegwa, taking over the most profitable company in East and Central Africa will be as exciting as it will be challenging. This is especially so because he will be succeeding two larger-than-life CEOs – Michael Joseph and Bob Collymore – and he must stamp his own imprint to walk out of their shadows. Few other jobs are as daunting, and Ndegwa’s entry is unlikely to be marked by pomp and circumstance. It is a baptism by fire. The coronavirus disease, Covid-19, is knocking down businesses. Investors, locally and globally, are losing trillions of shillings in paper wealth as the world economy plunges into a recession. More intricate As at the close of last week, shareholders of Safaricom, which is listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), lost Sh244.5 billion in paper wealth in three months. The pandemic brought to an end a share rally at what had been the NSE’s best-performing counter. And as the pandemic continues to ravage the business world with a lot of companies closing shop and sending workers home, Safaricom might take solace in the fact that people will still need to talk to each other. Kenyans will still be calling and texting and browsing, ensuring that Safaricom services remain in high demand. But as the pandemic continues to wipe money from people’s pockets, Kenyans might be forced to choose between buying airtime and food. But what will prove to be more intricate to his new assignment is the fact that President Uhuru Kenyatta has partnered with Google and Telkom Kenya to unveil an initiative that will see learners, those working from home and regions previously unreached by faster Internet receive high-speed connectivity through the Google Loon project. Safaricom has increasingly placed its bets on this data front for growth. It is not yet clear how the project will pan out, but should it take off, it might eat into Safaricom’s plans for its data business. Voice and text were the first to plateau, before the telco turned to mobile money transfer services with M-Pesa. But that, too, looks […]
Baptism by fire for new Safaricom boss, Peter Ndegwa
Peter Ndegwa, Safaricom CEO. When Peter Ndegwa takes office tomorrow as the new Safaricom chief executive officer, his every move will be closely scrutinised. His words and deeds, however small or off-the-cuff, will instantly spread and be amplified. Occasionally, his sentiments will be misinterpreted. For Mr Ndegwa, taking over the most profitable company in East and Central Africa will be as exciting as it will be challenging. This is especially so because he will be succeeding two larger-than-life CEOs – Michael Joseph and Bob Collymore – and he must stamp his own imprint to walk out of their shadows. Few other jobs are as daunting, and Ndegwa’s entry is unlikely to be marked by pomp and circumstance. It is a baptism by fire. The coronavirus disease, Covid-19, is knocking down businesses. Investors, locally and globally, are losing trillions of shillings in paper wealth as the world economy plunges into a recession. More intricate As at the close of last week, shareholders of Safaricom, which is listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), lost Sh244.5 billion in paper wealth in three months.
It’s a red alert. Kenya enters the dangerous phase of coronavirus pandemic with community transmission of disease, meaning the virus is no longer coming from outside and is instead spreading from within.
The pandemic brought to an end a share rally at what had been the NSE’s best-performing counter. And as the pandemic continues to ravage the business world with a lot of companies closing shop and sending workers home, Safaricom might take solace in the fact that people will still need to talk to each other. Kenyans will still be calling and texting and browsing, ensuring that Safaricom services remain in high demand. But as the pandemic continues to wipe money from people’s pockets, Kenyans might be forced to choose between buying airtime and food. But what will prove to be more intricate to his new assignment is the fact that President Uhuru Kenyatta has partnered with Google and Telkom Kenya to unveil an initiative that will see learners, those working from home and regions previously unreached by faster Internet receive high-speed connectivity through the Google Loon project. Safaricom has increasingly placed its bets on this data front for growth. It is not yet clear how the project will pan out, but should it take off, it might eat into Safaricom’s plans for its data business. Voice […]
