Peter Ndegwa is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Safaricom, having taken over the position on 1st April 2020. He is the first Kenyan to serve as Safaricom’s CEO.
He has an academic background in accounting, with an MBA from the London Business School and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Nairobi.
He began his career at PwC as a consultant and then relocated to London, UK, under the firm’s talent development programme in 1996. In 1999, he transitioned from the Accountancy practice to the Consulting & Corporate Finance Unit at PwC.
The decorated CEO was the managing director of Diageo Continental Europe. In this role, he oversaw business in over 50 countries in Western and Eastern Europe, Russia, the Middle East, and North Africa.
Ndegwa is credited with developing 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.
In October 2024, Peter received an Honorary Doctorate of Business Management from Meru University of Science and Technology in recognition of his contributions to business and leadership.
He is also a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK).
As a Chief Executive, Ndegwa has demonstrated the ability to transform businesses and organisations to deliver superior results. He has a passion for delivering value to customers, investing in talent, and getting things done.
It is no surprise that Safaricom has achieved remarkable growth and soaring success since Peter Ndegwa took on leadership.
Through his people-centric approach, Safaricom has experienced an impressive surge in its customer base by over 10 million, now exceeding 43 million people.
In 2024, Safaricom posted a 21.7 per cent growth in net earnings for the first six months of the year, with the company’s revenue growing by 14 per cent to hit a half-year high of Ksh181.4 billion.