Safaricom limited CEO Bob Collymore. FILE PHOTO | SALATON NJAU | NMG
Telecoms operator Safaricom on Monday said chief executive Bob
Collymore had taken medical leave to receive specialised treatment for a
“number of months”.
Company chairman Nicholas Ng’ang’a
made the announcement in a circular to employees, but did not disclose
the nature of Mr Collymore’s sickness.
“On behalf of
the board, management and the entire Safaricom community, I wish Bob
quick recovery and look forward to him resuming his duties as soon as
the doctors allow him to do so,” he said.
In his
absence, Safaricom chief financial officer Sateesh Kamath will take a
“primary role,” the circular said, adding that he will be supported by
Joseph Ogutu – the company’s director of Strategy and Innovation.
The
circular said Mr Ogutu has taken charge of Safaricom’s day-to-day
operations until Mr Collymore’s return from medical leave. Mr Collymore,
59, a Guyanan-born British citizen, took charge of Safaricom in 2010 on
a three-year contract, after the company’s founding CEO, Michael
Joseph, retired and had his term renewed for another three years.
His second term was expected to end last August, but was renewed for two more years.
The
extension was seen as a pointer to the telco’s preference for stability
rather than change as it navigated a difficult operating environment
characterised by ever changing regulations.
“You don’t rock a boat when it is sailing smoothly and beautifully,” said Mr Ng’ang’a.
Mr
Collymore’s time at the helm has seen Safaricom’s revenues hit Sh212.9
billion in the year to March 2017 from Sh83.96 billion in 2010.
This
has enabled Safaricom to cement its leadership in mobile money even as
it continues to command market leadership in voice, mobile data and SMS
services.
The sailing has, however, been far from smooth.
Mr
Collymore took over during the heat of a price war among the different
telecom operators and during his first investor briefing, he had the
unenviable task of reporting a 13 per cent drop in profitability.
On
Monday, Safaricom share price at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE)
remained unchanged at close of trading at Sh25.25 compared to Friday’s
price.
Safaricom’s voice, data and M-Pesa business
sustained more than 823,243 jobs in the year to March 2017, according to
a study commissioned by the operator.
The jobs
included those held by its own workers and the linkages created by
products and services such as airtime dealers, mobile money agents and
distributors.
More than 154,370 jobs were directly related to Safaricom’s operations.
Official
data released in April shows that the Kenyan economy created 832,900
new formal and informal sector jobs in 2016, down from 841,600 a year
earlier, meaning Kenya’s most profitable company sustained almost an
equal number of jobs.
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