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Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa has reflected on a pivotal moment in his career that reshaped his outlook as a leader.
In an interview with CTA, Ndegwa revealed that transitioning into a sales role helped him to understand revenue engines better, sharpen customer focus, and make decisions grounded in real-world constraints.
He recounted a time while working at the East African Breweries Limited (EABL) when the company was struggling to make sales.
Ndegwa, then a Strategy Director, volunteered to go on the ground and sell the products, a move he says altered his perspective on accountability, teamwork, and humility.
“I would go out there to recruit distributors and help the team that was doing the work to fast-track sales. I wanted to see where the barriers were, what the blockers were and why the margins were not right. Through that December, we saw a huge shift in our momentum,” he recalled.
From his findings, Ndegwa revealed that the lack of decision-making on the ground was preventing the firm from making sales.
“I noted a lack of decision-making on the ground because people were probably not fully empowered,” he said.
Peter Ndegwa now owns 6.2 million Safaricom shares worth Sh. 107.4 million
According to him, many issues affecting a business are not resolved on time because the team is not empowered or those in charge don’t feel they have the authority to resolve them.
“Because I was a senior person, I could make decisions or call my seniors, and there was a big change that was made because business was not doing well,” he recounted.
Born in 1969 in Kenya, Ndegwa attended Starehe Boys’ Centre and School, later earning a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Nairobi and an MBA from London Business School.
His career began at PricewaterhouseCoopers in the UK before joining the East African Breweries Limited (EABL) as director of strategy in 2004; over time, he moved into leadership roles at Guinness Ghana and Guinness is Nigeria.
In 2018, Ndegwa was appointed as General Manager responsible for Diageo’s business across Western and Eastern Europe. He served for one year before being appointed as the Safaricom CEO in October 2024 making him the first Kenyan to assume that role.
His tenure began amid the turbulence of the COVID-19 pandemic, an existential stress test for any incoming executive.
Under Ndegwa’s stewardship, Safaricom has articulated a bold ambition to become a purpose-led technology enterprise. Early this year, the firm hit a remarkable milestone, becoming the first East African company to surpass USD 3 billion in revenue.
