Outgoing Safaricom CFO roots for closer ties with parent firm

Monday, June 15, 2020 0:01

By BRIAN NGUGI

Safaricom Chief Financial Officer Sateesh Kamath at a past investor briefing in Nairobi.

FILE PHOTO | SALATON NJAU | NMG 

Safaricom’s #ticker:SCOM outgoing Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Sateesh Kamath says he will push for closer collaboration between the Kenyan telecom operator and Vodafone on innovation and technology.

Mr Kamath, who was promoted to Vodafone Business CFO, based in London, said one of such collaboration would be in the fifth-generation (5G) mobile internet services but also how to move the mobile money service M-Pesa to the next level of digital payment.

There are places where Safaricom is super advanced, M-pesa is one example and there are places where Vodafone is super advanced, 5G is one example,” Mr Kamath said in a Friday interview with the Business Daily.

Mr Kamath, who briefly took the helm of Safaricom when late chief executive Bob Collymore had taken medical leave to receive specialised treatment, said his decision to leave Safaricom was based on the Vodafone opportunity and not executive shifts at the Kenyan telco.