Safaricom on Thursday announced the appointment of Peter Ndegwa as the firm’s Chief Executive Officer effective April 1, 2020.
Ndegwa has an impressive career spanning several years as well as a good education background. He has worked for over 25 years in roles that have exposed him to general management, commercial and business strategy, sales and finance operations.
He holds an MBA from London Business School and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Nairobi.
However, Ndegwa, whom Safaricom has poached from global firm Diageo, where he is the firm’s Europe Managing Director, is not without weaknesses just like any other human.
Foremost, he disclosed that he is a very strict guy and has set very high standards for himself and others.
Despite setting strict standards, Ndegwa said that he does not celebrate his wins enough.
“I also don’t celebrate myself enough. When people congratulate me for going to Nigeria and Ghana, I take it for granted yet maybe I need to step back and celebrate,” he told Business Daily.
He also divulged that he has a weakness in trusting people more. Perhaps this is the reason Safaricom has trusted him with the much-coveted CEO position.
Lastly, Ndegwa, like most accomplished people out there is a workaholic.
“I need to relax more; sure I do physical activity – gym – and I started learning taekwondo some two years ago. Not enough relaxation but certainly work in progress,” he divulged.
Ndegwa will take over from Michael Joseph, the current Safaricom acting CEO, who took over after the death of the late Bob Collymore on 1 July 2019.