After November 1, Mr. Joseph will act as a “strategic advisor” and will remain on the board of directors to advise the new CEO.
Bloomberg reports: Joseph, 64, yesterday announced that he will be replaced by Bob Collymore, 52, at the helm of East Africa’s biggest company by market value. Collymore has worked in the telecommunications industry for more than 30 years in a variety of roles including that of Global Purchasing Director in Vodafone and Consumer Marketing Director for Asia.
“My mandate for the next two years is, one, to be strategic advisor to Bob in particular,” Joseph said. “Another part of my mandate is to expand MPESA internationally”.
Joseph has run the company since it was founded in 2000. It is 40 percent owned by Vodafone Group. He will also act as an adviser to Johannesburg-based Vodacom Group Ltd., which is controlled by Vodafone, with respect to its businesses in Mozambique, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Lesotho.
It is without doubt that Mr. Joseph’s greatest legacy will be the MPESA money transfer service which Safaricom launched in 2007, and which today boasts of more than 9million subscribers.
