Safaricom has appointed Frankline Okata as its new Chief Enterprise Business Officer to replace Cynthia Karuri-Kropac, in another major leadership change at the telco giant. The reshuffle is part of a broader reset of the company’s executive team under CEO Peter Ndegwa, as Safaricom bets on enterprise and digital services to offset stagnating voice and SMS revenues.
“Frankline brings a wealth of experience and a good understanding of our Enterprise business and operations,” Ndegwa said in a statement seen by . “He joined Safaricom in 2006 as a Customer Care Representative and held several roles in the Care Centre before moving to the Enterprise Business Unit in 2011, where he grew through various roles.”
Okata also led Safaricom’s strategy to scale integrated packaged technology solutions, and was responsible for the Small and Micro Enterprises segments, the CEO added. His appointment suggests a shift toward promoting internal talent to drive the company’s next phase.
Karuri-Kropac, who joined Safaricom from AT&T in 2022, exited the role less than two years into her tenure. She had been brought in to stabilise the enterprise division following a series of short-lived leadership stints, including that of Kris Senanu, who left in 2022 after barely a year.
She left the company in the first week of July, according to a source familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to speak freely.
“On behalf of the entire Safaricom family, I extend our gratitude to Cynthia for her contributions and leadership over the past couple of years and wish her success in her next chapter,” Ndegwa said. “ She led our efforts to drive new growth areas in enterprise, with a focus on IoT, ICT, and Cloud solutions, which are an important part of our vision of becoming Africa’s leading purpose-led technology company.”
Karuri-Kropac’s departure also marks the third leadership change in the enterprise unit in just over three years. The division has become increasingly crucial to Safaricom’s growth strategy, as the telco moves beyond voice and text into enterprise connectivity, cloud, and digital financial services.
Since Peter Ndegwa became CEO in April 2020, Safaricom’s executive bench has undergone a near-complete reset. All chief officers who served under the late and former CEO Bob Collymore have left—either through exits or early retirement—and were replaced within one or two years. That list includes Sylvia Mulinge, the former Chief Consumer Business Officer and now CEO of MTN Uganda.
The leadership shakeup comes amid a broader strategy change at the telco. Voice and SMS revenues are flat, while M-PESA continues to expand. In 2024, M-PESA accounted for 44% of Safaricom’s $2.8 billion (KES 364.3 billion) service revenue, after growing 15.2% to $1.2 billion (KES 161.1 billion). The mobile money platform now processes over $11.6 billion (KES 1.5 trillion) monthly from more than 30 million active users.
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