Michael Joseph has been at the helm of Safaricom since inception and with his contract coming to an end in the first quarter of 2008, picking the CEO of Kenya’s most valuable and successful company would appear as a big political concession that any regime would like to lose.

Mr Joseph has been an asset to the firm, which has not put in place a well thought out and well publicized succession plan. The risk of losing a successful manager at a time when the company is preparing to go public would have made investors skittish. more

Safaricom owes a syndicate of banks Sh12 billion and with the fast growth that the company is experiencing, it still needs the ability to tap both the equity and debt market for cash.

Treasury is seeking to sell 25 per cent of its 60 per cent stake in Safaricom to the public through the NSE in a transaction expected to net at least Sh34 billion and billed as the largest sale ever in the Kenyan capital market.

Already, a number of investor including British Telkom, France Telkom and South Africa Telkom have lined up to purchase a 51 per cent stake Telkom Kenya in deal worth Sh5.6 billion. The stake is set to be transferred to the winning bidder on November 26th.