Safaricom on Thursday, October 24, appointed Peter Ndegwa as the company’s Chief Executive Officer effective April 1, 2020.
In a statement sent to newsrooms, the telco reports that Ndegwa will join Safaricom from Diageo PLC where he is the Managing Director of Diageo Continental Europe.
"Peter brings 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," read part of the statement.
Currently, Ndegwa oversees the operations of Diageo PLC in 50 countries in Western and Eastern Europe, Russia, Middle East and North Africa region.
Previously, the newly-appointed CEO served seven years as CEO in Guinness Nigeria PLC and Guinness Ghana Breweries PLC, where he transformed the two operations to deliver a double-digit growth by investing in people, introducing new brands and reorganising the businesses.
Previously, Ndegwa served eight years across a range of senior executive director roles at EABL (a Diageo subsidiary) based in Nairobi.
Ndegwa's appointment comes after the former Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore's death on July 1, 2019. Collymore succumbed to Leukemia at the age of 61 with his predecessor Michael Joseph taking over on an interim basis.
Collymore, a Guyana-born British citizen, took charge of Safaricom in 2010 on a three-year contract after the company’s founding CEO, Michael Joseph, retired.
His contract was extended multiple times as a result of his success and was scheduled to exit the firm in 2020.
