Safaricom, Ltd is a leading mobile network operator in Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

. It was formed in 1997 as a fully owned subsidiary of Telkom Kenya

Telkom Kenya

Telkom Kenya is the sole provider of landline phone services in Kenya. It was previously a part of the Kenya Posts and Telecommunications Corporation which was the sole provider of both postal and telecommunication services...

. In May 2000, Vodafone

Vodafone

Vodafone Group Plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the world's second-largest measured by subscribers , with around 341 million proportionate subscribers as of...

 group Plc of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, the world's largest telecommunication company, acquired a 40% stake and management responsibility for the company.

As of January 17, 2011, Robert Collymore is the CEO; he succeeded Michael Joseph on November 1, 2010, after Joseph's ten years as Safaricom CEO.