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ESTHER WAITITU
CFSO, SAFARICOM PLC
Esther Waititu is a dynamic leader with a human-centred approach to finance, dedicated to empowering individuals and corporations to unlock their potential and achieve sustainable growth. As Chief Financial Services Officer (CFSO) at Safaricom PLC, she leads one of Kenya’s most transformative financial ecosystems: M-PESA. Known globally for pioneering the world’s most advanced mobile money payment system, M-PESA provides essential financial services to millions of Kenyans.
In her role, Esther drives strategic leadership, ensuring financial solutions are accessible and inclusive, reaching even the most remote areas. Her mandate is to expand M-PESA beyond payments and consumer lending, transforming it into a comprehensive financial services provider offering credit, savings, investment, and insurance solutions for both consumers and businesses.
A cornerstone of Esther’s career is her vast experience across the financial services landscape, covering payments, lending, savings, investments, and insurance—services essential to empowering consumers and businesses economically.
Her career includes roles in corporate advisory, corporate banking, operations, and relationship and product management across various sectors. She has driven innovative payment and disbursement solutions in agriculture, utilities, e-commerce, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), enabling secure and timely salary payments and aid disbursements. Esther has also advanced lending and trade finance solutions, particularly in the utilities, manufacturing, and distribution sectors, by creating working capital solutions that enhance efficiency and profitability for businesses and financial institutions.
Esther’s extensive knowledge of the banking and financial services landscape empowers her to drive impactful innovation at Safaricom, benefiting both the company and Kenya’s wider economy. Before joining Safaricom in May 2023, she held senior roles at leading financial institutions, starting at Commercial Bank of Africa (now NCBA), where she led government privatisation projects and capital raising initiatives for corporations like Centum.
She then moved to Standard Chartered Bank, where she participated in the establishment of the banking partner network for Standard Chartered’s Johannesburg branch while structuring large trade finance solutions for leading mining and telecommunications companies in Botswana and South Africa. At Standard Bank Group, she was responsible for transaction banking in East Africa, where she led the digitization of the East African Tea Trading Association’s payment reconciliation system, automating tea trade. With a 20-year career spanning Kenya, Zambia, and South Africa, Esther brings a valuable international perspective to her work.
As the former Director of Corporate Banking at KCB Group, Esther provided critical financial solutions to some of Kenya’s largest corporations, managed key relationships, and developed competitive strategies for the bank. Her leadership style, balancing strategic insight with hands-on mentorship, enabled her teams at KCB and Standard Bank (Stanbic Bank Kenya) to grow both professionally and in their contributions to the organisations.
At Standard Chartered Bank and Standard Bank, Esther managed large teams and led complex projects focused on business growth and risk management across Kenya, South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. These experiences laid the foundation for her success at Safaricom today.
Esther holds a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) from the University of East Africa, Baraton, an MBA from the University of Liverpool, UK, and a Practitioner Diploma in Executive Coaching from the Academy of Executive Coaching (AoEC). Her governance expertise is further demonstrated through board positions with Sanlam East Africa Asset Management and African Alliance Kenya Asset Management Limited, where she serves as a trusted advisor on financial management and corporate governance.
Her background in executive coaching enhances her role as a mentor, fostering a culture of dialogue, reflection, and strategic goal-setting that benefits both individuals and organisations. This holistic approach to leadership is what sets Esther apart, making her a powerful force for progress in financial services.
