Safaricom’s Chief Financial Services Officer Esther Waititu is set to leave the telecommunications giant at the end of the month, bringing to a close a tenure marked by the rapid expansion of M-PESA into a broad digital financial services platform.
In an internal memo to employees, Safaricom Chief Executive Officer Peter Ndegwa announced that Waititu will step down effective July 31, 2026, saying she had requested to leave the company to pursue other opportunities.
During her tenure, Waititu led the transformation of M-PESA from a mobile payments service into a comprehensive financial ecosystem offering savings, credit, insurance and investment solutions.
The shift has reinforced the platform’s position as a digital financial partner for millions of customers beyond its traditional role as a money transfer service.
Among the key milestones achieved under her leadership was the rollout of the M-PESA SuperApp, which expanded the platform into a lifestyle hub by integrating more than 80 mini-applications.
The SuperApp enables users to access a range of services, including shopping, transport and digital utilities, through a single interface.
She also oversaw the development of the Ziidi Investment Platform, including the introduction of Ziidi Shariah and the Ziidi Money Market Fund (MMF), broadening investment opportunities available through M-PESA.
Another major innovation during her leadership was the launch of M-PESA Ratiba, a mobile money standing order solution that allows customers to automate recurring payments and savings.
Waititu also spearheaded the expansion of digital credit products designed for retail customers, businesses and public sector institutions, strengthening M-PESA’s footprint in Kenya’s financial services market.
She leaves behind a legacy defined by financial inclusion, digital innovation and products that expanded M-PESA beyond payments into savings, investments, insurance and business solutions.
In a farewell message, Waititu said her mission was to transform M-PESA into “a lifeline platform” that enables customers to save for school fees, insure against risks, access credit to grow businesses and build wealth for future generations.
“3 years ago, M-PESA was already Africa’s leading digital payment platform. I believed we could do more. With an exceptional team, we set out to make it a lifeline platform, one that helps people save for school fees, insure against risk, borrow to grow, and build wealth for the next generation,” Waititu stated.
“Pochi la Biashara let micro-entrepreneurs, food vendors, kiosk owners, boda-boda operators, separate business from personal funds and grow with confidence. Tuunza Mapato and device insurance protected not just their income but the tools that income depends on, so one accident or one stolen phone no longer undoes years of progress. Ziidi has helped over 5 million people earn daily interest and take their first step into formal investing,” she added.
She further hailed her efforts on the launch of Ziidi Trader, a platform that brought stock market investing directly to M-PESA users.
Developed in partnership with the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), the Capital Markets Authority (CMA), KASIB Kenya and the Central Depository and Settlement Corporation (CDSC), the service enables customers to purchase listed shares through their mobile phones without opening a traditional brokerage account.
Beyond customer-facing products, Waititu oversaw significant investments in the technology powering M-PESA.
Under the Fintech 2.0 programme, Safaricom re-engineered the platform’s underlying infrastructure to improve reliability, scalability and future innovation.
The company also launched Daraja 3.0, an upgraded developer platform that opened M-PESA’s infrastructure to software developers, enabling them to build new financial solutions on top of the ecosystem.
According to Waititu, some of the innovations now running on M-PESA were created by developers she has never met, a reflection of the open innovation model the company embraced.
“With the ecosystem now firmly established, the time feels right for a new chapter. I am stepping down from Safaricom with enormous pride in what we built as a team, and with the conviction that drew me here: that finance should serve everyone,” she added.
She thanked Safaricom Group Chief Executive Officer Peter Ndegwa, the company’s board, investors, colleagues and customers for their support throughout her journey, adding that she will soon announce her next career move.
“Thank you to Dr. Peter Ndegwa C.B.S for your steadfast trust and partnership, to Adil Khawaja SC, MBS, MGH and the Board, to investors for our vision, and most of all, to my incredible team and to our customers, the people who inspire us daily,” she added.
Before joining Safaricom, Waititu served as Director of Corporate Banking at KCB Group. Her career spans several of the region’s leading financial institutions, including Commercial Bank of Africa, Standard Chartered Bank, Stanbic Bank and KCB Group.
She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Eastern Africa, Baraton, a Master of Business Administration from the University of Liverpool, and is an AoEC Accredited Executive Coach.
