John Ngumi has resigned as the chairman of the Safaricom board, just 7 months after being named to the position by the telco at the end of July last year. In a statement issued on January 5, 2023, Safaricom announced that Ngumi had resigned as a Director and consequently as the Chairman of the Board as from December 22, 2023, adding that a new chairman would be elected by the board in the coming weeks.
“In the brief period following his appointment to the board, John has provided a wealth of industry knowledge and vast experience. He has steered the company through a General Election and supported the entrenchment of our purpose of transforming lives through our products and services as well as within the communities we serve,” Kathryne Maundu, Safaricom’s company secretary noted in the statement.
(TOP: John Ngumi, the outgoing Safaricom board chairman).
“In particular, John strongly supported and ensured the repositioning of the Fuliza products to better serve Kenyans. He was also an ardent enthusiast of Safaricom’s entry into Ethiopia. John leaves the board to focus on developing green energy generation across Africa with an emphasis on green hydrogen.”
Towards the end of July 2022, the Safaricom board named John Ngumi as the new chair, taking over from Michael Joseph who has held the position from mid 2020 when he took over from Nicholas Nganga. In his message, Michael Joseph stated that he, among other things, wants to devote more time to supporting Safaricom’s investment in Ethiopia, noting that relinquishing the role of Chairman allows him the flexibility and freedom to undertake the important role on behalf of Safaricom.
Ngumi is a veteran banker with career spanning over 30 years. He’s established himself as one of East Africa’s foremost corporate and investment bankers, working with local and international (global) corporates that have an East African regional presence, state-owned enterprises, sovereigns, and financial services groups.
He has played pivotal roles in developing regional capital markets, in establishing the regulatory frameworks underpinning these markets, and in persuading East African governments to turn to local capital mobilisation to finance budgets
Ngumi has had a particularly close banking relationship with the telecoms sector dating back to the late 1990s, when the sector underwent radical transformation that saw the previous monopoly, Kenya Posts & Telecommunications Corporation (KPTC) unbundled into three distinct units – that is Telkom Kenya, Safaricom and Postal Corporation.
In 1998, partly as an outcome of having been involved in the work that led to the Kenya Communications Act, Ngumi was appointed a Director of the inaugural Board at the Communications Commission of Kenya (now Communications Authority). Th Board presided over the unbundling of KPTC and, among other things, issued the inaugural operating licences for Safaricom and Kencell. John also led debt and derivatives transactions for Safaricom totaling Kshs 30 billion, including Safaricom’s inaugural Kshs 4 billion bond issue in 2001.
In addition to being an investment banking deal maker, Ngumi played key roles in developing Kenya’s capital markets, including leading roles in the development of capital markets regulations.
Apart from being Safaricom board chair, Ngumi also chairs other boards as well namely Konza Technopolis Development Authority; Kenya Pipeline Company; and Industrial & Commercial Development Corporation (ICDC). He also sits on the Kenya Airways board.
In March 2021, Ngumi was appointed Chair of a Presidential Taskforce on Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) to reviewing Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) between the Kenya Power & Lighting Company and Independent Power Producers (IPPs), following a sustained public outcry that PPAs were skewed against KPLC, leading to unsustainably high consumer power tariffs. The Taskforce reported back to President Uhuru Kenyatta in September 2021 with a raft of wide ranging and radical recommendations. Thereafter, the President appointed John Chair of the Steering Committee charged with overseeing implementation of these recommendations. The Committee submitted its report at the end of June 2022. Currently, he is chairing the government team negotiating with IPPs on tariffs.
Apart from John Ngumi’s departure, Safaricom also announced the appointment of Adil Arshed Khawaja as a Director with effect from December 22, 2022. Khawaja is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya with over 30 years experience covering dispute resolution, commercial, and real estate.
Khawaja currently serves as the Managing Partner at Dentons Hamilton Harrison and Mathews, recognised as the oldest law firm in Kenya. The firm was founded in 1902.
He also serves on various boards including Rhino Ark Charitable Trust, Al Futtaim Automotive – CMC Motors Group, and Atua Enkop Africa. Khawaja previously served a director at KCB Bank Group from 2012 before being elected and serving as the first chairman of KCB Bank Kenya from 2016 to 2020. He has also served as the director at Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) and as a trustee at Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).
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