Chief Executive Officer, MTN Uganda
Sylvia is the Chief Consumer Business Officer at Safaricom PLC, Kenya’s leading Integrated Communications Service provider. As the youngest Director at the most profitable business in East and Central of Africa, she has a front row seat in driving the business agenda in the region.
While at Safaricom, Sylvia has steered the Enterprise unit to become the largest Enterprise Communications service provider and the preferred partner of choice for Kenyan Businesses while achieving great growth in both revenues and customer base. Instrumental in expanding Safaricom’s retail shop footprint, she played a critical role in converting them into viable profit centers. Her preceding experience was at Unilever where she worked for over 5 years both in Kenya and South Africa. She gained immense and diverse experience in customer development, innovation management, trade marketing, field sales as well as in brand management.
Sylvia is Bachelor of Science degree alumna from the University of Nairobi where she graduated with the highest distinction of First Class Honors. Her a constant quest for knowledge led her to the University of Capetown, South Africa where she is currently pursuing her Executive MBA. A passionate individual who always seeks to exceed expectations, Sylvia was named one of Kenya’s Top 40 Women Under 40 for 3 years running, a prestigious recognition of Kenya’s most influential women who are below the age of 40.
Avid about transforming lives and empowering society, she sits on the Board on The Partnership for Maternal Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH); a global health initiative hosted by the World Health Organization in Geneva. She is also an active member of Make A Difference (MAD) a Vodafone Group Foundation as well as Safaricom’s Sustainability team.
Sylvia was in January 2015 selected as a 2015 Young Global Leader (YSL). This honor is bestowed by the World Economic Forum to recognize the most distinguished leaders under the age of 40, nominated from around the world. Passionate about developing women across the region, she has sponsored and participated in various initiatives that drive leadership growth for women and develop their capabilities from the classroom to the boardroom.
Sylvia also sits in a number of Boards and is one of 5 Board of Trustees for the first ever Kenyan Corporate Venture fund for Kenyan entrepreneurs, appointed by the Safaricom Board. The Safaricom Spark Venture Fund is a 1 million dollar venture fund that invests in late seed to early growth stage start-ups that use mobile technology as an enabler. Her role includes providing thought out leadership and governance to the fund through her experience and industry knowledge as well as overall management of the fund. She is also a Board member of Safaricom Foundation and a local bank.
A mentor and coach in both her private and personal life, Sylvia operates on the principles of partnership, humility, openness and professionalism. But when all is said and done, her most treasured role is being the mother of her son and daughter.