Safaricom names Peter Ndegwa as new CEO

Safaricom has appointed Mr. Peter Ndegwa as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer effective April 1^st 2020. Mr. Ndegwa joins from Diageo where he is the Managing Director of Diageo Continental Europe.

Peter Ndegwa, the former managing director of Guinness Nigeria Breweries Plc, is the first Kenya hold this position. He will be taking over from Michael Joseph who is at the helm of Safaricom for the second stint after the death of  Bob Collymore.

According to Safaricom Chairman, Nicholas Nganga, Mr. Ndegwa will bring a wealth of experience in General Management, Commercial and Business Strategy, Sales and Finance Operations, having spent over 25 years in various roles within the Financial Services and Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sectors in Africa and Europe.

 In his current role, Peter oversees the operations of Diageo PLC in 50 countries in Western and Eastern Europe, Russia, Middle East, and North Africa region. He had previously served for seven years as CEO in Guinness Nigeria PLC and Guinness Ghana Breweries PLC, where he transformed the two operations to deliver double-digit growth by investing in people, introducing new brands and reorganizing the businesses.

Prior to that, Peter served for eight years across a range of senior Executive Director roles at EABL (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.

He is credited with the development of an affordable-beer strategy for EABL resulting in the production of new brands such as Senator beer. Senator beer became one of the most successful innovations by Diageo that has been featured in the Harvard Business Review. He started his career at PwC, the global consulting firm, where he worked for 11 years.

Education Background

Peter 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).

Safaricom’s Board of directors has expressed confidence that Peter will carry on the Company’s vision of transforming lives while keeping it focused on meeting customers’ needs and holding the telco to its new brand promise of being Simple, Transparent and Honest.