Safaricom CEO to leave as row erupts over successor
Bob Collymore, who helped to build Safaricom into East Africa's most profitable company, is said to be leaving due to poor health
Nairobi — The head of Kenya’s biggest telecoms firm Safaricom plans to step down in August for health reasons, but the government’s insistence that he should be succeeded by a Kenyan has delayed announcing a replacement, two company sources said. Bob Collymore has helped to build Safaricom into East Africa’s most profitable company, thanks to the popular mobile money transfer service M-Pesa and a growing customer base. However, he took a nine-month medical leave in late 2017 to return to his native England to battle cancer, and has now indicated he wants to step down, the sources said. “He wants to concentrate on his health so he did not wish to renew his contract,” said one of them, speaking on condition of anonymity as there has been no official announcement. Collymore said on Monday he was still in discussions with the board, adding it would make announcements on the CEO position at a later date. “I have every confidence that whether I’m here or not, that this company will run. ...
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