John Ngumi has been appointed Safaricom Board Chairman effective August 1.
The career banker replaces the incumbent Michael Joseph who has served as the Board Chair since 2020.
Moreover, the appointment adds to a growing list of roles landed by Mr. Ngumi who currently chairs the board of the Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation (ICDC).
In addition, Ngumi served as the inaugural Board Chair at Konza Technopolis Development Authority (KOTDA) and has also served as the Board Chair at the Kenya Pipeline Company Limited (KPC)
Likewise, John Ngumi sits on the board of Kenya Airways (KQ) as a non-executive director following an appointment done earlier this month.
The exiting chairman Michael Joseph also served two stints as Safaricom CEO and was the company’s first CEO serving for a decade between July 2000 and November 2010.
Moreover, in July 2019, took over following the demise of former CEO Bob Collymore serving until March 31, 2020, when he handed over leadership to current CEO Peter Ndegwa.
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Seemingly, the end of Michael Joseph’s time as board Chair marks his transition from the company he helped found at the turn of the Century.
Likewise, the newly appointed John Ngumi is recognized with a number of key financial transactions in the region including leading the issuance of Kenya’s first New York Stock Exchange (NSE) listed bond in 1989.
Furthermore, Ngumi was the lead arranger of a Ksh.4 billion Safaricom bond that helped the infant telco finance its infrastructure rollout in 2001.
Hitherto, John Ngumi worked for leading global banks including Stanbic Bank (formerly Grindlays Bank), Citibank and Barclays.