Safaricom Senior Management Team and their profiles (2023/2024)

Below are the names of Safaricom Senior Managers for the years 2023/2024

Peter Ndegwa

Chief Executive Officer

Peter is the CEO of Safaricom PLC, a leading communications company in Africa. Safaricom is also the pioneer of M-PESA, the world’s most developed payment system.

Peter joined Safaricom on April 1st, 2020. He is an experienced Board level leader with a wealth of experience in General Management, Commercial and Business Strategy, Sales and Finance Operations, having spent over 25 years in various roles within Financial Services and Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sectors in Africa and Europe.

Dilip Pal

Chief Finance Officer

Dilip, who joined Safaricom as the Chief Finance Officer in November 2020, has more than 29 years of experience in Finance, spanning various industries including Telecoms, Financial Services and Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) and Engineering in international and multi-cultural environments. Dilip has a proven track record of building competent teams, improving performance, business turnaround, simplification, and digitization.

His Division is responsible for the overall financial planning, management, and oversight of the organization.

Previously, he was the CFO with DTAC Thailand, a part of the Telenor Group, since 2017.  Prior DTAC he was the CFO of Grameenphone Bangladesh, a role that he held for three years.  Before Grameenphone, Dilip held various finance roles in Vodafone India in Mumbai, rising to the role of EVP Finance. He has also held senior finance roles in other organizations, namely Hutchinson Essar, Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages and Tata Tinplate.

Dilip has held Board positions in various institutions including Carousell, Singapore (leading online classified company of South Asia), Tele Assets, Thailand (DTAC subsidiary), Accenture Bangladesh (joint venture of Accenture and Telenor) Indus Tower (JV with Bharti Airtel and Idea) and Vodafone Essar Spacetel Ltd (Vodafone India subsidiary).

Dilip has a Master’s in Commerce from Calcutta University and a Bachelor of Commerce from Goennka College of Commerce. He is a Chartered accountant from Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and a Cost Accountant from Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India.

Dilip is married with one daughter.

Stephen Kiptinness

Chief Corporate Affairs Officer

Stephen is responsible for Safaricom’s reputation management, public policy, legal and regulatory affairs. He is in charge of steering the development and implementation of Safaricom’s corporate investment strategy as well as overseeing internal and external communications. He also leads the development of a roadmap that will embed purpose in everything we do at Safaricom and among our stakeholders.

Stephen has more than 27 years of cumulative legal experience. He joined Safaricom from Kiptinness & Odhiambo Associates LLP where he was a Senior Partner heading the Technology and Intellectual Property practice for the last 10 years. Before starting his practice, Stephen worked at Telkom Kenya Orange, heading Regulatory Affairs for 3 years, from 2009 to 2012.

Prior to his role at Telkom Orange, he held various legal roles including Legal Officer and subsequently Senior Legal Officer at the Communications Authority of Kenya, and Legal Manager at the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation, having commenced his legal career as a Trainee Advocate at Oraro & Co. Advocates. Stephen also teaches at the University of Nairobi School of Law.

He holds a Bachelor of Laws (LL. B Hons) from the ILS Law College, University of Pune, a Diploma in Computer Science, a Certificate in Human Resource Management, a Post graduate Diploma in Law and a Master of Laws (LL.M) in Information Technology & Telecommunications Law from the London School of Economics.

Stephen is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya, a Member of the Law Society of Kenya and is a Certified Public Secretary with Institute of Certified Secretaries.

Fawzia Ali-Kimanthi

Acting Chief Consumer Business Unit Officer

Fawzia Ali-Kimanthi is the Acting Chief Consumer Business Unit Officer since July 2022.​

Fawzia joined Safaricom in 2007 as a Senior Manager Reporting, Accounts Receivable and M-PESA. Since then, she has grown her career and expanded her breadth through various leadership roles. In particular, she has been the Head of Regional Sales & Operations – Coast, Head of Consumer Planning and Pricing, Head of Consumer Segments and Head of Digital Products and Services.  In October 2021, Fawzia was appointed the Mobile Data Tribe Lead.​

She holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Nairobi and an MBA from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. She has also attended multiple leadership programs and is a Certified Coach.​

Paul Kasimu

Chief Human Resources Officer

Paul Kasimu, the Chief Human Resources Officer, is a passionate HR professional and an accredited Executive Coach. He has expertise in implementing HR strategy, leadership and talent development, and employer branding. Paul has experience across Africa and the UK in the public sector, financial, airline, FMCG, and telecoms sectors.

He is responsible for talent and organizational effectiveness. Paul oversees Talent Acquisition & Capability, Corporate Centres, Essential Services & Facilities, Health, Safety & Wellness and responsible for driving the Corporate Culture.

Nicholas Mulila

Chief Corporate Security Officer

Nicholas Mulila is the Chief Corporate Security Officer at Safaricom PLC responsible for the Business Risk Management Strategy, Cyber Security Management, Revenue Assurance, AML/CTF Program, Insurance, Ethics & Compliance and Physical Security.

He joined Safaricom in 2001 as a Senior Management Accountant in the Finance Division and has risen steadily through the ranks to serve the company in various capacities including Principal Business Planning & Forecasting Accountant, Head of Corporate Strategy, Head of Commercial Planning & Pricing, Executive Business Analyst, Director Risk Management and is currently Chief Corporate Security Officer.

Morten Bangsgaard

Chief Technology Information Officer

Morten, the Chief Technology Information Officer, has over 26 years of experience in various roles in the telecommunications industry. He will head the newly created Technology and Information organisation.

He joined Safaricom in January 2021 from Maxis, Malaysia—the country’s largest mobile operator—where he worked for six years (2014-2020). At Maxis as the CTIO, Morten was responsible for the development and operations of the Maxis telecommunications and IT networks. He was instrumental in planning and leading large IT transformation projects, the building of enterprise fibre network, cybersecurity and cloud and network digitalisation. 

Cynthia Karuri-Kropac

Chief Enterprise Business Officer

Cynthia joins Safaricom from AT&T, where she was the Senior Director, Enterprise Mobile and IoT Technologies, since 2019.

Cynthia’s career at AT&T Inc. spanned 19 years, having joined BellSouth in 2003 as a Senior IT Client Account Management Lead before taking on the role of Director, Mobile Service Delivery and Operations, for Cingular Wireless in 2008. In 2010, she was appointed AT&T Global Lead and Director, Enterprise Solutions and Sales Support, a role she held until 2019 when she took up her latest role as Senior Director, Enterprise Mobile and IoT Technologies.

Prior to joining AT&T, Cynthia worked for Accenture/Andersen Consulting as a Senior Manager for 7 years.

With over 20 years’ experience in the Telecommunications sector, Cynthia has a wealth of knowledge in various crafts, including Business Strategy, Industrial IoT, Enterprise Technology Solutions, Executive Advisory & Decision Support, Operational Excellence and Process Reengineering.

She holds a Bachelor of Finance from the University of Toledo, Ohio, and an MBA in Finance and International Business from Kent State University, Ohio.

Nicholas Kamunyu

Chief Channels Officer

He has over 23 years’ experience in finance and commercial roles across various local and international corporations. His career begun in the United Kingdom at Carluccio’s, Searcy Tansley & Co. where he started in an accounting role before growing to the role of Financial Controller. He then transitioned to Medicsight Inc. where he held a similar role.

 Nicholas then joined Coca Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA) where he was Finance Director in Uganda then Mozambique. In 2011, he was promoted to Sales and Marketing Director at CCBA Kenya, a role he held till May 2013. Upon leaving CCBA, he joined Carlsberg Kenya as the General Manager from 2013 to 2016, when he joined Sema Mobile. In 2018, he joined Coca Cola, Nigeria as Franchise Director.

Michael Mutiga

Chief Business Development & Strategy Officer

Michael leads Safaricom’s business development and transformation agenda. He is responsible for Strategic Partnerships, Mergers and Acquisitions, Safaricom’s funding strategy and asset optimization.

With over 20 years’ experience in Corporate and Investment Banking, Michael joined Safaricom from Citibank where he was a Managing Director and Head of Corporate Finance for Sub-Saharan Africa from 2019. Prior to this role, he was head of Corporate and Investment Banking for Citibank Kenya and was appointed a Senior Credit Officer in 2018.  Michael was with Citibank for 15 years and has held various senior local and regional leadership roles.

Prior to joining Citibank, Michael worked in Barclays/Absa Capital, where he grew from a Management Associate to the Regional Coverage Head – East Africa, Investment Banking Division Africa, a role he held until he joined Citibank in 2006.

Through his career, Michael has managed numerous significant transactions, earning him ‘Corporate Banker of the Year’ 5 separate times at the Annual Banking awards, as well as leading his team to winning ‘Corporate Bank of the Year’ in Kenya a similar number of times, amongst other industry recognitions. He was also listed for three years as a Top 40 under 40. He holds a Bachelor of Law Degree from the University of Nairobi, and Masters in Law degree from Temple University. He is an Advocate and a Certified Public Secretary and sits on the Board of Junior Achievement.

Boniface Mungania

Acting Chief Financial Services Officer

Boniface Mungania is the acting Chief Financial Services Officer since July 2022. Boniface joined Safaricom in 2007 as a Customer Care Representative and was soon promoted to a Dealer Account Manager. In 2011, he joined the Financial Services team as Senior Officer, M-PESA Business Development. Since then, he has grown and held various leadership roles in Financial Services including Senior Manager, M-PESA Business Development, Mobile Financial Services Consultant (Vodafone Qatar) and Head of M-PESA Products and Services Development. In October last year, Boniface was appointed the Payments Tribe Lead.​