Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore reveals what gives him sleepless nights

Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore.

By Jevans Nyabiage

Kenya: Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore reviews the year that has been and reveals what keeps him up at night.

In your opinion, how has 2013 been in terms of business performance and Kenya’s operating environment?

I think 2013 has been a better-than-expected year for business.  At the beginning of the year, the business community was concerned about possible disruptions from the elections, but this turned out not to be the case.

Later in the year, we had the unfortunate Westgate tragedy, but apart from one or two exceptions most businesses bounced back well.  It’s heartening to see most tourists resorts almost fully utilised this season.

How does this year compare with 2012?

From a financial perspective, 2013 was an improvement on the previous year. From a transformative perspective, I think Safaricom has made further in-roads in its Transforming Lives agenda, and for that we are very pleased. I’m glad of the progress we have made on our sustainability agenda and it’s pleasing to see a number of other companies picking up and running with the issue of sustainability in business.

What are the highs and lows of 2013?

Undoubtedly one of the biggest lows of the year was the terrorist attack on Westgate.  There were many who were very surprised by the absence of “incidences” around the election; this is something that we should all be proud of. 

From Safaricom’s perspective we were exceedingly proud and humbled to receive the Golden Jubilee Award from His Excellency the President on Jamhuri Day for our contribution to the nation.  We were the only commercial organisation to have been granted this award alongside the Jomo Kenyatta Foundation, The Sisters of Loreto and the Kikuyu Mission Hospital.  We always say that we measure our success not by the profit we make but by the difference we make, and it was nice to be recognised for doing so.

As the CEO of the most profitable company in East and Central Africa, what is your biggest concern?

In common with most other CEOs, my biggest concern is having a predictable business environment in which to operate, whether from a macroeconomic, regulatory or political perspective. The Government has shown early signs of recognising the need for stability and predictability and appears to be committed to creating a more favourable business environment.

A 45 per cent jump in half-year net income is a massive increase in an industry where three other operators are in the red. What is Safaricom’s trick?

I’m not sure I’d call it a “trick” but we have continued to focus on blending the needs of all our stakeholders and not simply fixating on one over the other.  Like most companies, we listen to our customers as well as try to deliver strong returns for our shareholders, but we also go beyond and look to what we can contribute to the broader community.  I believe that our Transforming Lives agenda has played a very large role in contributing to the continuing success of the company.

What gives you sleepless nights?

Given its significance to economic activity in the country, the performance of M-Pesa is probably the single largest contributor to sleepless nights for me and my management team.

What is the biggest mistake you have made this year?

Although we make lots of small mistakes almost on a daily basis, I’m not sure we’ve made any significant mistakes this year.  However, there were one or two things that I wish had gone better and our experience with the electoral process in March this year was one of them. We often reflect on whether we would do it again given the unintended backlash we suffered.

Anything you would want to forget about this year?

2013 will always be remembered as the year terrorists made their most audacious onslaught on decency in Kenya. While we would all want to forget the details of what happened over those few days, we cannot forget the heroism that many ordinary Kenyans demonstrated during the crisis.  Nor can we forget the extraordinary  generosity of Kenyans through the We Are One campaign that followed.

Any policy or regulatory issues in the telecoms industry that remain unresolved from 2013?

It’s good to see the regional governments finally getting to grips with the issue of roaming rates across East Africa, and I have to commend our Cabinet Secretary for providing leadership on this issue. Spectrum availability, particularly for LTE (or 4G), remains unresolved and the industry would welcome clarity on timing of availability as well as methodology for allocation of this spectrum.

What is your business outlook for 2014?

Our outlook for next year remains bright. We don’t expect a repeat of the level of uncertainty we experienced over the past two years that was largely driven by unpredictability of timing and impact of the elections.  While the workings of the new central and county governments are still being ironed out, I’m expecting they will soon settle down and 2014 will see much more positive traction in a number of areas.

Any changes you would want to see to make the industry more vibrant?

There can be no doubt that the ICT sector in Kenya is one of the most vibrant, not just in Africa, but across the emerging markets. This is driven by an enabling regulatory environment, a demanding customer base and a smart and entrepreneurial young ICT community. We all need to ensure we keep this environment positive and constructive.

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