Former Safaricom CEO Michael Joseph Receives Picmet Technology Management Award for M-Pesa

JULY 06,2014.

CIO EAST AFRICA.

Vodafone's Director of Mobile Money Michael Joseph has received the prestigious Leadership in Technology Management Award from PICMET (Portland International Centre for Management of Engineering and Technology).

Joseph's LTM Award from PICMET recognises his work developing Vodafone M-Pesa, the mobile money transfer and payment service that has transformed the lives of millions of people in emerging markets.

Receiving the Award at PICMET's 2014 conference in Kanazawa, Japan, Michael said that it was an honour and humbling experience to be recognised by PICMET and its members.

"When I went to Kenya to become the CEO of Safaricom I wanted to change people's lives for the better. I was determined that we would be an innovative company by design - the now world-famous M-Pesa product was the result of that thinking."

M-Pesa has grown to be a business success for Safaricom posting Ksh26.6 billion in revenue for the financial year 2013/14 which was a 21.6% growth compared to the previous reporting period. An average of Ksh101.3 billion was transacted between the period April 2013 and March 2014.

The service has also proved as a source of income for many households, with 81,025 agents rolled-out across the country.

PICMET generates and disseminates knowledge on technology management to around 17,000 technology management specialists in academia, industry and government throughout the world.

The PICMET Leadership in Technology Management Award recognises and honours individuals who have provided leadership in managing technology by establishing a vision, providing a strategic direction, and facilitating the implementation strategies for that vision.

The Award was established in 1991 and previous winners include: Carly Fiorina, chairman & CEO, Hewlett-Packard; Andrew Grove, chairman, Intel Corp; Norman Augustine, vice chairman and CEO, Lockheed Martin; Morris Chang, founding chairman, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company; Robert JT Morris, VP Global Labs, IBM Research; HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn and Jack Welch, CEO, General Electric. Other former PICMET winners are Jong-Yong Yun, vice chairman & CEO, Samsung Electronics and Anne Mulcahy, chairman and former CEO, Xerox Corporation.