Safaricom shareholders will decide on July 31 whether to hand Vodacom the formal right to nominate the company’s chief executive officer, a move that would cement the South African telecom giant’s control over East Africa’s most valuable listed firm. The vote comes just weeks after Vodacom completed its acquisition of an additional 15 percent stake in Safaricom from the Kenyan government, a deal that pushed its total shareholding to roughly 55 percent.
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According to Safaricom’s notice announcing its annual general meeting, the proposed resolution would require the board to appoint the CEO from a list of nominees provided by Vodafone Kenya, the vehicle through which Vodacom holds its stake, for as long as that shareholding remains above 50 percent. The amendment also instructs the board to encourage what the notice describes as a predominantly Kenyan character within senior management and the executive committee, an apparent attempt to soften the political weight of ceding CEO selection to a foreign majority owner.
For the resolutions to pass, at least 75 percent of shareholders voting must support them, a high bar that reflects how sensitive the matter is to Kenyan investors and the public. Under the proposed governance structure, the board would maintain a minimum of seven directors with no maximum limit, and both Vodafone Kenya and the Kenyan government would be entitled to appoint one director for every complete 10 percent shareholding they hold. The government’s consent would also be required before any material change to the Safaricom brand or before the company expands its operations beyond Kenya and Ethiopia.
The share acquisition that triggered this vote was finalized on June 30, following a process that began in December last year when Vodacom first signaled its intention to raise its holding. The National Treasury’s stake in Safaricom fell to 20 percent as a result, while the remainder continues to trade publicly on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. Vodacom had already held about 39.9 percent of Safaricom through Vodafone Kenya before the roughly 1.6 billion dollar transaction lifted it to majority control.
The development has reignited long standing debate in Kenya over who truly runs Safaricom, a company widely regarded as the backbone of the country’s digital economy and home to the M Pesa mobile money platform used by millions. Safaricom operated under an expatriate CEO and Kenyan chairman for years before Peter Ndegwa’s appointment in 2019 marked the first time a Kenyan led the company, a moment many saw as symbolically significant. Should the new resolution pass, the arrangement would effectively return Safaricom to a leadership model last seen before 2020, with Vodacom driving executive selection while a Kenyan chairperson retains the board’s top ceremonial seat.
Industry watchers note that while Vodacom gains decisive influence over who becomes CEO, the company has publicly committed to keeping most of Safaricom’s senior management Kenyan, a concession aimed at easing concerns about a full foreign takeover of one of the country’s most strategically important businesses. With the AGM now just weeks away, all eyes will be on whether Kenyan shareholders, including major pension funds and retail investors, back the amendment or push back against handing a foreign parent formal control over Safaricom’s top job.
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