Wananchi hires Safaricom ex-manager Genue Mwaura as CFO

What you need to know:

  • Zuku also appointed Michael Dabaly as the sales, marketing and corporate communications director for the cable division

Wananchi Group, owner of the Zuku brand, has tapped Safaricom’s former head of finance operations and investor relations Genue Mwaura as its new chief finance officer (CFO).

Zuku also appointed Michael Dabaly as the sales, marketing and corporate communications director for the cable division.

Mr Mwaura holds an MBA in strategy and is a fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants UK (FCCA) and has also worked at Vodacom Group South Africa and Vodafone Group in the UK.

The CFO position has been vacant since February this year while the sales, marketing and corporate communications post is a newly created one merging sales and marketing with corporate communications. 

Wananchi Group Chief Executive Officer Santiago Benedit said the changes are aimed at improving efficiency and offer better services to customers and ensure return on investment to the shareholders.

Keep up with the technology

“These management changes have been necessitated by the desire to keep up with the technological advancements, process enhancements, changing customer demands and new market trends.”

Mr Benedit added that the changes were necessary to meet the overall goals, purpose and mission of the organization in line with its strategic plans.

“I would like to congratulate those who have been assigned new roles and hope they will find their positions both challenging and rewarding,” Benedit said.

Dabaly, an alumnus of the London Business School, will oversee cable sales, marketing and corporate communications across Wananchi Group's cable operations. He will also be responsible for introducing Fiber services across the East African region and beyond.

He brings a wealth of experience earned at major telecommunication companies and multinational entities, including British American Tobacco, and J Reynolds East & Southern Africa.

He previously worked at Zain Group in Amsterdam and later in the Middle East, where he was group commercial director covering 22 operations across the Middle East and Africa.