Editor’s note: HSN Person Of The Year is a series of articles recognizing the contribution of outstanding African men and women in their community and the world. This year the candidates were chosen by our team after looking at the impact the individuals had in our society.
Humility and integrity are the fundamental guiding principles for Peter Ndegwa, Hot Seat News Business Executive of the Year.
“There are two things that I value most –Humility and integrity. Integrity is about doing what you say, and Humility is knowing that there is always something more you can do,” Ndegwa said following his appointment as Safaricom’s Chief Executive Officer in 2019.
For a long time, Kenya had also been pushing Safaricom to be headed by a Kenyan. The answer came in the form of Ndegwa, a small-bodied and soft-spoken man.
Safaricom has since played an outsized role in Kenyan lives at home and abroad, making it easier to wire money worldwide and revolutionizing how Kenyans conduct business with each other.
According to data from Kenya’s Central Bank, money remittances from the diaspora to Kenya show a sharp spike between 2018 and 2022, when money transfer apps connecting with Safaricom’s MPESA started to become popular.
The Central Bank 2021 survey reported that Kenyans abroad preferred sending money using banks, money transfer companies, and mobile money operators, and Safaricom plays a significant role in connecting the services.
Ndegwa’s leadership has continued to steer the company to greater heights and enhanced its services to fuel commerce in Kenya.
In a recent article posted on his LinkedIn account and published in Kenya’s Business Daily, Ndegwa hailed the launch of 5-G in Kenya.
“Looking at the evolution of mobile technology, the first generation, 1G, cut the cord for voice calls and ushered in a new era of communication. This was enhanced by the emergence of 2G, which also introduced internet on the go. The introduction of 3G mainstreamed web-browsing, while 4G brought about higher internet speeds, video streaming, and the advent of cloud computing,” Ndegwa said, explaining the technology journey from 1G-5G.
Under Ndegwa, Safaricom is moving Kenya into the technology fast lane through 5-G technology, helping every aspect of the Kenyan economy.
“Currently, Safaricom has 35 5G sites spread across Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Kakamega, and Kisii, with the intention to have 200 sites up by March 2023. Our 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G, in aggregate, cover over 99 percent of Kenya’s population, while our fiber network has connected more than 200,000 homes to fast and reliable internet,” Ndegwa said in his article.
He had big shoes to fill at Safaricom, taking over from one of the most respected businessmen Michael Joseph who had been acting as interim CEO following the death of the venerable and beloved Bob Collymore.
Before his appointment, Ndegwa served as the Managing Director of continental Europe for Diageo, a global company in alcoholic beverages.
Ndegwa is an alumnus of Starehe boys Centre and the University of Nairobi, where he pursued a bachelor’s degree in Economics before proceeding to London Business School for his MBA.
He is also a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK).
Upon completing his MBA, he served in cooperate advisory and project management in leading European and American banks and insurance businesses.
He returned to Kenya in 2002 and worked on several corporate advisory assignments, mainly in the financial service sector, before joining East African Breweries Limited (EABL), a Diageo subsidiary, in 2004 as a strategy director. He rose through the ranks at Diageo until his appointment at Safaricom.
During his tenure at Diageo, he went from being a strategy director at the EABL to CEO at the Guinness Ghana Breweries PLC and later Guinness Nigeria PLC, which are also Diageo subsidiaries. Soon he took over his most significant role as Diageo Continental Europe MD, overseeing business operations in western and Eastern Europe.
During his stint at EABL, he is credited with steering the development and creation of Senator Keg, Kenya’s most affordable beer. He is also responsible for significant business agendas like acquiring Serengeti Breweries Limited in Tanzania and unwinding a complex shareholding structure with SAB Miller [now ABI] in Kenya and Tanzania.
With a career spanning over 25 years, Ndegwa officially took over as Safaricom CEO on April 1, 2020, when the country was going through an economic crisis due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Despite the tough times, he has worked through the kinks in the past two years to improve the profitability of Safaricom in the competitive telecommunication industry. He has also introduced a new leadership style that ensures stakeholders are well informed of his thoughts by consistently publishing articles in the authoritative Business Daily and the Daily Nation Newspapers.
In one of the articles published on April 1, 2021, reminiscing his one year at Safaricom PLC’s helm, he shared leadership lessons he has learned in Transition Amidst a Crisis. He emphasizes the need for a strong sense of purpose as a leader.
“Deal with the Crisis, but also continue to build the future. Despite the Uncertainty we face, maintain a sense of mission and be devoted to achieve it,” Ndegwa said.
As he took over in the middle of a pandemic, Ndegwa quickly launched measures and campaigns that would caution Kenyans against COVID-19.
Some of these campaigns include ‘Bonga for good,’ an initiative that allows customers to use Bonga points to pay for goods and services using Bonga points, and the Skiza Ad service aimed to provide SMEs the opportunity to advertise their services through skiza tunes.
One of the most significant achievements of Safaricom under his leadership so far has been the launch of the Telco in Ethiopia in October this year.
As of December 2022, Safaricom Ethiopia’s 2G, 3G, and 4G mobile services are available in 16 cities. The number is expected to reach 25 by April 2023 to meet its license’s 25 percent population coverage obligation.
Within one month, Safaricom Ethiopia had crossed the one million mark in subscribers, generating a capital of Kshs 98.3 million, indicating a warm reception in one of the African countries with a vast population, which comes only second after Nigeria.
In October this year, Safaricom became the first Telco in Kenya and East Africa to launch commercial 5G high-speed internet services following trials that started in march 2021. Currently, the Telco has 35 active 5G sites spread across Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Kisii, and Kakamega.
This year Safaricom has also launched the eVisa in partnership with Visa Card, which allows Kenyans to purchase products off the internet from abroad.
The latest entrant in the market is the M-Pesa Go, a new financial product that will target teens and preteens aged between 10 to 17 years. The service will empower parents and guardians to raise a financially healthy generation ready for a cashless world.
Ndegwa said Safaricom intends to have more than 300 mini-apps on the super app to become a complete marketplace.
Under his leadership, Safaricom has a new strategy to become a purpose-led technology company.
President Ruto appointed him to head the Drought Response Committee, clearly recognizing his exemplary leadership skills. The committee is tasked with establishing a private sector-led National Drought Mitigation Appeal Fund in Conjunction with the Kenya Red Cross to supplement the government’s drought response program in dealing with the biting hunger affecting more than 20 counties.
Ndegwa is married and has one son. His favorite travel destinations are Watamu and Mauritius.