Safaricom is a telecommunications company based in Kenya, East Africa. It was founded in 1997 and is currently the leading mobile network operator in the country, with over 35 million subscribers.
Safaricom provides a wide range of communication services, including voice, data, and mobile money transfer through its flagship product, M-PESA.
The company is known for its innovative approach to mobile technology and has been recognized globally for its contributions to the industry. Safaricom has been listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange since 2008 and is also a constituent of the FTSE NSE Kenya 25 Index.
As for the Safaricom Board of Directors, it is the group of individuals responsible for the overall management and strategic direction of the company.
The board is responsible for the overall conduct of the company’s business. The chairman is responsible for the operation, leadership and governance of the board, ensuring its effectiveness and setting its agenda.
The chief executive is responsible for the management of the company’s business and the implementation of board strategy and policy.
Adil Arshed Khawaja (MBS) – Chairman
Adil Khawaja is a highly distinguished Advocate of the High Court of Kenya with over 30 years work experience in the legal profession ranging from dispute resolution to commercial and real estate.
He is recognized as a leading name in the Kenyan legal profession and has been globally recognized in various practice groups as one of the most sought-after lawyers in Kenya.
In recognition of his positive contribution to the sustainability of the environment of the country, Adil was recently awarded the Moran of the Order of the Burning Spear (MBS) by the President of the Republic of Kenya.
Mr. Khawaja currently serves as the Managing Partner at Dentons Hamilton Harrison & Mathews, the oldest law firm in Kenya, established in 1902 with a reputation as an innovative, experienced, responsive, and highly skilled firm.
Adil holds board positions in various companies across various markets. He currently serves on various boards which include Rhino Ark Charitable Trust, Al Futtaim Automative -CMC Motors Group Limited and Atua Enkop Africa Limited.
He previously served as a director of KCB Bank Group from 2012 and was elected the first chairman of KCB Bank Kenya Limited from 2016 until 2020 when his tenure ended. He has also served as a director in the board of Kenya Power & Lighting Company.
Outside his professional capacity, Adil is active in the wildlife and environmental conservation space. He has been a member of the Nairobi Arboretum Conservancy Community Forest Association, a trustee of Care for the Wild and an advisor for Friends of Conservation.
He is a former trustee of the Kenya Wildlife Service and a board member of the National Environment Council. His love for the law and environmental conservation, led him to be appointed by the Government of Kenya as a member of the Taskforce to inquire into Forest Resource Management and Logging activities in Kenya.
An avid enthusiast of four-wheel driving he has combined his love for the thrill with conservation and has been a participant in the Rhino Charge for nearly 20 years and amongst the top fund raisers for the Rhino Ark, where he has been a Trustee from 2018 to date.
Peter Ndegwa – CEO
Peter Ndegwa is the CEO of Safaricom PLC, and he joined Safaricom in April 1st.
He is an experienced Board level leader with a wealth of experience in General Management, Commercial and Business Strategy, Sales and Finance Operations, having spent over 25 years in various roles within Financial Services and Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sectors in Africa and Europe.
He 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).
In his most recent role, Peter was responsible for Diageo PLC operations in 50 countries in Western and Eastern Europe, Russia, the Middle East, and North Africa regions.
Previously, he served as CEO in Guinness Nigeria PLC and Guinness Ghana Breweries PLC, transforming the two operations to deliver double-digit growth by investing in people, introducing new brands, and re-organizing the businesses.
Peter served for eight years across a range of senior Executive Director roles at East Africa Breweries Limited, a Diageo subsidiary, based in Nairobi.
Serving as the Group Chief Finance Officer (CFO), Group Strategy Director, Sales Director, and as an Executive Director on the EABL Board, he was part of the team that saw the EABL business more than doubled in value and winning the coveted Most Respected Business Award in East Africa for five years in a row.
Peter 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.
He started his career at PwC, the global consulting firm, where he worked for 11 years. Peter draws his inspiration, in particular from his early upbringing laying the foundations for his strong value set, from his teachers and the legendary Dr Geoffrey Griffin – the late founder of Starehe Boys Centre- his alma mater and his parents.
Michael Joseph – Non-Executive Director
Michael Joseph is the former Chief Executive officer of Safaricom PLC, a position held from July 2, 2019 to March 31, 2020. He joined the board on September 8, 2008 and was appointed as chairman on 1st August 2020 to 1st August 2022.
He is also Vodafone’s Strategic Advisor appointed to the Boards of Vodacom Group South Africa, Vodacom Tanzania and Vodacom Mozambique. He is also the Chairman of Kenya Airways.
Previously, Michael was the Chief Executive Officer of Safaricom Limited from July 2000 when the company was re-launched as a joint-venture between Vodafone UK and Telkom Kenya until his retirement in November 2010.
During his tenure, he steered the Company from a subscriber base of less than 20,000 to over 16.71 million subscribers.
This phenomenal growth straddling nearly a decade was motored by the launch of many innovative products and services such as M-PESA. He has extensive international experience in company start-ups, the implementation and operation of large wireless and wire-line networks, including operations in Hungary, Spain, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Korea, the USA, Australia and the Middle East.
Dilip Pal – Alternate Director to CEO
Dilip Pal, who joined Safaricom as the Chief Finance Officer in November 2020, has more than 29 years of experience in Finance, spanning various industries including Telecoms, Financial Services and Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) and Engineering in international and multi-cultural environments.
His Division is responsible for the overall financial planning, management and oversight of the organization.
Previously, he was the CFO with DTAC Thailand, a part of the Telenor Group, since 2017. Prior DTAC he was the CFO of Grameenphone Bangladesh, a role that he held for three years.
Before Grameenphone, Dilip held various finance roles in Vodafone India in Mumbai, rising to the role of EVP Finance. He has also held senior finance roles in other organizations, namely Hutchinson Essar, Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages and Tata Tinplate.
He has a Master’s in Commerce from Calcutta University and a Bachelor of Commerce from Goennka College of Commerce. He is a Chartered accountant from Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and a Cost Accountant from Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India.
Kathryne Maundu – Company Secretary
Kathryne is a Partner at Stamford Corporate Services LLP, part of Bowmans Coulson Harney LLP.
She is recognised as a leading expert in corporate governance matters having advised leading corporates in the public and private sector for over 15 years.
She is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya, a member of the Law Society of Kenya, a registered practicing Certified Public Secretary and an Accredited Governance Auditor with the Institute of Certified Secretaries – Kenya.
She has been recognised as a leader in society and named as Top 40 under 40 Women in Kenya.
Kathryne is a member of the Women on Boards Network, a member of the Women Corporate Directors (Kenya Chapter) and a Council member of the Institute of Certified Secretaries – Kenya (ICS).
Ory Okolloh – Independent Director
Ory Okolloh is currently a Partner at Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures (VKAV), where she leads and implements all investment-related activities, drives expansion, and supports partner companies with strategic and operational issues.
She is a seasoned corporate operator at board level, and currently serves as a member of several boards including Thomson Reuters Founders Share Trust, East African Breweries PLC, Stanbic Foundation and Adecco Group Foundation. She is also a Trustee at the Van Leer Foundation.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Juris Doctor (JD) degree from the Harvard Law School.
Mohamed Shameel Aziz Joosub – Non-Executive Director
Shameel is the CEO of Vodacom Group since September 2012. He is a former CEO of Vodafone Spain.
He was previously the Managing Director of Vodacom South Africa from March 2005 to March 2011 prior to taking up the position as CEO of Vodafone Spain.
Prior to that, he was the Managing Director of Vodacom Service Provider Company from September 2000 to February 2005, and Managing Director of Vodacom Equipment Company from 1998.
Shameel served on the Vodacom Group Board from 2000 until March 2011, when he was seconded to Spain. He was re-appointed to the Vodacom Group Board in September 2012 after his return from Spain.
Rose Ogega – Independent Non-Executive Director
Rose Ogega has extensive experience spanning over 25 years advising and managing both large, complex organizations and emerging startup ventures.
In recognition of her contribution to the economic development of the country, she was awarded the Moran of the Burning Spear (MBS) in 2005.
Ogega, is the Managing Director of Bloom Consultancy Limited. She is currently a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network, the Institute of Directors of Kenya, the African Leadership Initiative and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya.
She is a Certified Hogan Lead Assessor, an Executive Coach and a Member of the Academy of Executive Coaches.
Francesco Bianco – Non-Executive Director
Francesco Bianco is the Global Talent, Capabilities and Organisational Development Director at Vodafone and an alternate non-executive director in the Vodacom Group Board.
Francesco has had a vast career in HR, spanning over 15 years. He originally joined Vodafone Italy in 2000 and has extended his career portfolio internationally in other Human Resources Director roles.
Francesco holds a Bachelors’ Degree in Law from Padova University and a Business Strategy Executive Program with Maastricht University.
Francesco was appointed to the Vodacom Group Board as an alternate director to Mr Michael Joseph in January 2019 and also appointed as an alternate director to Ms Leanne Wood in July 2019.
Raisibe Morathi – Non-Executive Director
Raisibe Morathi was appointed as the Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director of Vodacom group with effect from 1st November 2020. She joined Vodacom from the Nedbank Group where she had been the Group Chief Financial Officer since September 2009.
She has a cumulative 26 years’ experience in Financial Services in various large corporates in South Africa, including Nedbank Group, Sanlam Group and the industrial Development Corporation.
Raisibe was also the patron of its Women’s Forum, demonstrating her commitment to the development of women and young people.
She is a Chartered Accountant (SA) and has also completed an Advanced Management Programme (AMP) with INSEAD (France). She also holds a Higher Diploma in Taxation (Wits University) and is currently pursuing a Masters in Philosophy (Corporate Strategy) at GIBS.
Winnie Ouko – Independent Non-Executive Director
Winnie Ouko was appointed Non-Executive Director on 10th February 2021. She has over 25 years of professional finance, strategy and board level experience, serving corporates and non-profits in Africa, Europe and the US.
She is the founder and CEO of Lattice Consulting, a Kenya-based boutique advisory firm committed to propelling its clients to growth via strategy and finance advisory and corporate training.
Winnie’s career includes a stint as an Associate Director at Standard and Poor’s in New York, and PricewaterhouseCoopers in Nairobi.
She sits on the Board of the Kenya Pooled Water Fund, has served on the board of Absa (Kenya), chairing the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee; and has been a Trustee for the Worldwide Fund for Nature, Switzerland (which oversees 70+ programs and country offices around the world), chairing the Audit and Risk Committee.
She is a fellow of the Aspen Global Leadership Network, and is a leadership adviser with Adaptive Change Advisors, (NY). Winnie has an MBA from Cornell University (NY), a BComm from the University of Nairobi, and is a CPA (K).
Karen Kandie – Alternate Director to CS, National Treasury and Planning
Kandie is a finance specialist with over 20 years of strategic leadership and management experience in senior leadership positions in the financial services industry.
She is currently the Director, Parastatal Reforms (Financial) at the National Treasury and Planning, where she leads Parastatal Reforms that are geared towards reducing fiscal pressures by making public spending more efficient and transparent.
She holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Nairobi, and a Master of Business Administration from Murdoch University in Western Australia.