By: Nana
Appiah Acquaye
Safaricom Group Chief
Executive Officer Peter Ndegwa has urged African business leaders to embrace
continuous innovation, disciplined execution and customer-focused strategies to
remain competitive and respond to market disruption.
Ndegwa made the remarks
while hosting a delegation from the Vodacom Advanced Executive Programme in
Nairobi, where participants gained insights into the operations of Safaricom
PLC in Kenya and Safaricom Ethiopia Telecommunications PLC.
The programme was delivered
in partnership with GIBS Business School (Gordon Institute of Business Science)
and The Strategists, bringing together colleagues from across Africa for an
immersion into the two telecommunications businesses.
A key leadership lesson
Ndegwa shared with the delegation was the importance of remaining humble and
continuously shaping the market to stay ahead of disruption.
“This means being willing to
disrupt yourself before others do,” he said, noting that history was full of
leaders who became complacent, lost their competitive edge and eventually
surrendered their market positions.
He said staying ahead
required continuous innovation, disciplined execution, putting customers first
and constantly evolving offerings to meet changing needs while creating
sustainable value for customers and shareholders.
Ndegwa also encouraged the
delegates to look beyond their next promotion and seek cross-functional
experiences to broaden their perspectives.
Reflecting on his own career
across strategy, sales and finance, he said leadership growth came as much from
the breadth of experience as from depth of expertise.
He welcomed the delegation
to Kenya and expressed hope that the participants had gained valuable insights
as they continued shaping the future of Africa.
