Digital Business Transformation in Silicon Savannah: How M-PESA Changed Safaricom (Kenya)

Abstract

The view had changed since Bob Collymore, chief executive officer of Kenya's leading telecom operator, made his first helicopter flight over Nairobi, when he moved there six years earlier. Soaring up into the sky, he still remembered the excitement he had felt when he got his first bird's-eye view of the city that would soon become his home. Taking a sharp right towards Ngong city outskirts, he pondered the professional journey he started when he took over Safaricom from his predecessor Michael Joseph in November 2010. Just like Nairobi over the previous six years, Safaricom had changed significantly under his leadership. Overall, it had been quite an ascent, but there were also some challenges and failures along the way. Much as he had done during his inaugural flight, Collymore kept his eye on the horizon and was not shy about taking calculated risks.