Bob\nCollymore, the chief executive of one East Africa’s most successful companies,\nSafaricom, has died, the company has announced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In\na brief statement the Kenyan company said he died of cancer on Monday morning\nat his home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“In\nOctober 2017, Bob proceeded to the UK to receive treatment for Acute Myeloid\nLeukemia and returned in July 2018 to resume duties,” it adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\nwas receiving treatment since then but “in recent weeks his condition\nworsened”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr\nCollymore became Safaricom’s chief executive in 2010 and helped maintain the\ncompany as the regional leader in mobile services, including the payment system\nMpesa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kenyans pay tribute to top\ntelecoms boss<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n “Bob\nCollymore” and “Rest in Peace” are trending on Twitter in Kenya\nas people share news that the chief executive of Safaricom, one of the region’s\nmost successful companies, has died of cancer at the age of 61.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In\na statement, President Uhuru Kenyatta described him as a “visionary and\nexceptional leader”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Deputy\nPresident William Ruto has called him “exemplary, brilliant and\ncourageous”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Others\nhave described him as a “legend” and having a “brilliant\nmind”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Opposition\nleader and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga says that Mr Collymore\n“sustained us as a communication hub in Africa”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last\nyear, Safaricom was named by Forbes magazine as the top employer on the\ncontinent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mr\nCollymore told the BBC’s Money Daily programme that the secret was that\nSafaricom invested in people adding that companies “need to give people\nmeaning and purpose”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He\nalso had advice for young employees: work hard and align your values to the\nvalues of the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n BBC<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bob Collymore, the chief executive of one East Africa’s most successful companies, Safaricom, has died, the company has announced. In a brief statement the Kenyan company said he died of cancer on Monday morning at his home. “In October 2017, Bob proceeded to the UK to receive treatment for Acute Myeloid Leukemia and returned in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27983,"featured_media":9898,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_paywall_metabox":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[101],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"yoast_head":"\n