Mr. Peter Ndegwa has been appointed as Safaricom PLC Chief Executive Officer effective April 1, 2020, by the Company’s board of directors. Mr. Ndegwa’s appointment follows the passing on Bob Collymore who succumbed to cancer after serving as the company’s CEO for nine years.
Peter brings in 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 as he joins Safaricom from Diageo PLC where he is the Managing Director of Diageo Continental Europe.
“We are confident that Peter will carry on our vision of transforming lives while keeping us focused on meeting our customers’ needs and holding us to our new commitment of being Simple, Transparent and Honest,” read the official statement from Safaricom PLC.
He started his career at PwC, the global consulting firm, where he worked for 11 years. 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.
In his current role, Peter oversees the operations of Diageo PLC in 50 countries in Western and Eastern Europe, Russia, the Middle East, and the 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.
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). He is married with one child.