Michael Joseph

Michael Joseph is currently chairman of Kenya Airways, a position he has held since October 2016. He is also a non-executive director on the boards of Vodacom Mozambique, MFS Africa and Safaricom Limited. Michael was most recently (October 2017) employed by Vodafone Group Services Limited as the director of mobile money and was responsible for leading the strategic growth and development of the successful M-Pesa proposition across the Vodafone footprint. Michael was one of the first World Bank Fellows, appointed in March 2011 to advise governments, regulators and other institutions on Mobile Money and other ICT initiatives. Michael’s most recent appointment in April 2017 is non-executive director of MFS Africa, a leading Pan-African Fintech company. Previously, Michael was the founding CEO of Safaricom Limited, steering the company from a subscriber base of less than 18 000 in 2000 to over 17 million subscribers at his retirement in November 2010 making it the most successful company in East Africa.

This phenomenal growth straddling nearly a decade was notable for the launch of many innovative products and services and he was behind the launch of the highly successful launch and phenomenal growth of M-Pesa and its related services. He has extensive international experience in company start-ups, the implementation and operation of large wireless and wire-line networks. He is also a keen conservationist and serves as chairman of Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, a leading conservancy in Northern Kenya. He was appointed to the Vodacom Group Board in May 2009.