Safaricom, Kenya’s biggest company by market value, announced that Chief Executive Officer, Bob Collymore died after a battle with cancer. He was 61.
The Guyanese-born British citizen took a medical leave in October 2017 and resumed work in July 2018.
“He had been undergoing treatment for this condition since then in different hospitals and most recently at Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi. In recent weeks, his condition worsened,” the statement says.
Collymore was appointed CEO of Safaricom in 2010 and was responsible for growing the subscriber base to more than 30 million customers. In May, Collymore announced the board had agreed to extend his contract by a year because he owed the company the time he took off for medical reasons.
Safaricom, which is 35% owned by South Africa’s Vodacom , is the country’s biggest telecoms company, controlling about 62% of Kenya’s mobile market, with 30 million subscribers. Britain’s Vodafone has a 5% stake and the Kenyan government owns 35%.
Bob Collymore helped to build Safaricom into East Africa’s most profitable company, thanks to the popular mobile money transfer service M-Pesa and a growing customer base.
Shares at Safaricom opened 2.7% lower at 27.35 shillings ($0.2672) on Monday after the announcement
