Thank you for all your kind wishes, appreciations and words of advice. I will attempt to respond as much as possible.

 

Muriuki asked me to response to specific questions which are listed below and I will add other responses to comments expressed from other Listers.

 

-          What is behind the success; is it luck, ability to manipulate the environment around you?

There are many factors behind the success of Safaricom, but I would sum it up as follows:

We determined that our core market was going to be the man and woman in the street (matatu passengers if you will) and came up with prices, products and services that were accepted and used by this core market. We also make some wise (in hindsight) decisions like per-second billing, 24 hour 7-days a week free customer care, inexpensive handsets, pre-paid tariffs etc. We stressed our Kenyan roots both in our branding and our CSR programmes from the very beginning. It was a combination of knowledge and experience from the past (mostly what did not work), some knowledge of the local market, gut feel and luck.

 

-          What drives you and can this  be ported to other managers to drive their enterprises to success like Safaricom

I am very ambitious, competitive and firmly believe in doing the very best you can. I believe that we are all given great opportunities in life and it’s up to us to take these opportunities and use them for the benefit of our fellow man. I believe in integrity, care for ones fellow man and hard work and these credos can be used by anyone. Very few of us are born with a silver spoon in their mouths and therefore to be successful takes some effort. It came to me late in life but nevertheless it came.

 

-          Is this specific to ICT sector or are these skills generic and can apply to other sectors?

As above

 

-          How do you manage time to handle all demands on your time

I handle stress quite well but I work quite long hours – I start at 6am and finish around 8pm and then usually I am required to attend some function. I use the hours of 6am to 8am to deal with all my emails and reading of documents and the rest of the day is for meetings both formal and informal.  Weekends, wherever possible, belong to me and my family

 

-          Going forward , how will you  use your time

At this point, I have no idea. As the time gets closer I am getting a little more concerned. I will remain on the Board of Safaricom for another 2 years, will maintain an office at Safaricom and will also act an advisor to Bob Collymore the new CEO, and the CEO of the Vodacom Group.

 

-          And finally a chance to introduce  the incoming  CEO  to the listers

Bob is copied above and I have urged him to join this list.

 

Other comments:

 

1. I do respond to all emails addressed to me. I am particularly concerned when complaints are made about our service and we do not respond. I find this unacceptable but it is sometimes like pushing a large boulder uphill to get people to change although we are making progress. I want our subscribers to be satisfied with our service and I take it very personally when they are not due to our own inability to get things right
2. I learnt early on to lead from the front. You need to be seen to be the leader and to act like one. The title of CEO or whatever does not make you a leader. When things are both bad and good you need to be seen and to take responsibility. I always admire people that when they get promoted, suddenly have the wisdom they never had the day before (perhaps it came through the walls like osmosis). Take our Ministers as a perfect example.
3. I agree with Sam – I need to achieve (it’s a fixation) and I am the second born!
4. To the PS (to whom I am eternally grateful), I still think some of your ideas are wacky but are probably right! I apologize about the lawyer – no more can be said here!
5. To be clear: M-Pesa was developed by Vodafone using a co-grant from DFID. It was originally developed for the micro-finance industry for the disbursement and repayment of small loans. We were asked to trial it in 2006 which we did and then Safaricom and Vodafone suggested and made the changes that created M-Pesa. M-Kesho was my idea as expansion of M-Pesa. Sambaza and Okoa Jahazi were ideas borrowed from other Vodafone companies – Egypt mostly.

 

The future:

 

I have been urged to write a book, go in public service and or just fade into the background. I really have not decided yet. A book sounds interesting but somewhat arrogant from my side, but maybe it will be necessary. I would love to do more for Kenya but NOT as a politician. Lecturing would be great but I have yet to be asked. I will take some time to think about it and then decide. Life will for sure present me with my next opportunity and challenge.

 

Thank you for allowing me to respond and once again thank you for the many positive comments.

 

 

 

 

Hi Listers

As you are aware , Michael  Joseph (MJ) leaves the office of CEO on 31^st  of this  month after a 10 year  career at Safaricom. As is tradition,  we at KICTAnet  bid our members   welcome/  farewell  and certainly  this list is the tool of choice     supplemented by a bash when feasible . this is what we want to do starting now – from 10 hrs today the 10^th day of the 10^th month of the 10 year of the new century  we wish to take just 10 days to reflect on the MJ’s 10 year safari ---- . As usual we expect fair and candid thoughts from our hearts and mind and the daily prompting questions will provide a structure for our discussion

we shall present your candid views in style to MJ  at a suitable time  shortly after the closure of the  list discussion----

 

To kick-start discussion , first let’s look  back over your shoulder -  just recall when he landed in Nairobi in June 2000 and went to work on/at Safaricom. At 17k customers , with barely 9 base stations , the operator was the smallest  and in the eyes of the  potential  consumer, an appendage of the towering TKL of the day .  that was then , it’s no more

 

·         What still lingers in your mind of  MJ early days at Safaricom, his interaction with you , the customers , the media, the regulator , competition etc?

·         What factors   shaped MJ’s and Safaricom’s  destiny – did he create the opportunities or was he just smart enough to take advantage  of the situation?

·         In juggling between  competing technologies, customer expectation, staff demands, government, market competition, what strikes you as MJ’s  character  that produces the results we see

·         What do you think he could have done differently?

·         What actions did  MJ take then that are still inexplicable and  you   would want MJ to explain now?