Safaricom CEO and Omidyar Director of Investments among top 40 digital leaders of Africa

Safaricom Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Peter Ndegwa and Omidyar Network Director of Investments Ory Okolloh have been named among top 40 digital leaders of Africa, a ranking of the leading shapers of Africa’s digital landscape.

If there is one industry that has continued to exceed expectations in Africa, it is telecommunications.

According to The Africa Report, today, Africa has more than 500 million cellphone users. That is almost one in two Africans.

In 2019, Ndegwa joined Safaricom from Diageo, a global leader in the alcoholic beverages business, where he served as Managing Director of Continental Europe.

Peter Ndegwa CEO Safaricom, speaking at a media showcase for the launch of the company's 5G service in Kenya, March 26, 2021. Twitter/@Safaricom PLC

Following the appointment as CEO of Safaricom Plc became the first Kenyan to lead Kenya's first mobile network operator.

Safaricom this month, reported a 12.1 percent growth from Sh33.07 billion to Sh37.1 billion in its half-year financial year results ending in September.

The group’s profit before tax for the period grew by 22.2 percent from Sh44.8 billion to Sh54.7 billion.

Over the same period, the value of M-Pesa transactions grew from Sh9 trillion to Sh13.7 trillion, and total revenue grew 45.8 percent now accounting for 37.8 percent of service revenue, due to return to charging of previously zero-rated transactions.

Okolloh has earned a spot on Forbes’ top 20 Power Women in Africa Pulse Live Kenya

Ory Okolloh on the other-hand rose to fame for her role in creating a public website to monitor Kenya’s parliament, Mzalendo.

Two years later she created another monitoring utility aimed at reporting violence during the tumultuous elections, and she later worked as Policy Manager for Africa at Google.

Okolloh has earned a spot on Forbes’ top 20 Power Women in Africa, as well as TIME’s 100 most influential women.

In 2013 she moved to Omidyar Network as a director of investments, staying with the company until January 2020.

Omidyar Network invests in entrepreneurs who share our commitment to advancing social good at the pace and scale the world needs today.