Airtel Money Kenya is set for a leadership transition after Anne Kinuthia Otieno stepped down as Managing Director, leaving the company ahead of Airtel Africa’s planned London listing later this year.
Her departure comes amid a broader leadership reshuffle across Kenya’s telecom and mobile money sector. It follows the recent appointment of a new managing director at Airtel Kenya and the announced exit of Safaricom’s top financial services executive.
Kinuthia Otieno announced her resignation in a LinkedIn post on Saturday, saying she was preparing for a new chapter in her career but did not reveal her next destination.
Reflecting on her time at Airtel Money, she said the business strengthened its position in the market by expanding its merchant and agent network, forging new partnerships and modernising its core mobile money platform.
She joined Airtel in August 2021 after more than a decade in banking, having held senior leadership roles in governance and sales distribution at Absa Group following more than seven years at Barclays.
Under her leadership, Airtel Money steadily gained ground in Kenya’s highly competitive mobile money market, reducing the dominance of Safaricom’s M-PESA.
Data from the Communications Authority of Kenya shows Airtel Money’s market share grew from 3.1% in September 2021, shortly after Kinuthia Otieno took over, to 10.9% by March 2026. Over the same period, M-PESA’s share declined from 96.8% to 89.1%.
Kenya recorded 53.4 million active mobile money subscriptions as of March 2026, a 3.9% increase from the previous quarter, with mobile money penetration reaching 100.1%.
The leadership change comes at a crucial time for Airtel Africa. On July 23, the company confirmed London as its preferred venue for the initial public offering (IPO) of its mobile money business, targeting a listing in the second half of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals and market conditions.
Airtel Money served 56.5 million customers across Africa at the end of June, up 23.3% year-on-year, while annualised transaction value exceeded $245 billion, according to Airtel Africa’s first-quarter financial results.
Kinuthia Otieno’s departure also follows a leadership transition at Airtel Kenya. On July 1, Djibril Tobe succeeded Ashish Malhotra as Managing Director after previously leading Airtel’s operations in Congo Brazzaville and Chad. Malhotra has since moved to lead Indus Towers’ African operations.
Airtel Money Kenya has operated as a standalone business since 2022, when Airtel Africa separated its mobile money operations into an independent entity regulated by the Central Bank of Kenya.
Her exit also coincides with executive changes at rival Safaricom. Esther Waititu, the company’s Chief Financial Services Officer, is set to leave on July 31 after nearly three years in the role. Safaricom has named Boniface Mungania as interim Chief Financial Services Officer following her departure.
The changes come after Sitoyo Lopokoiyit, the former Managing Director of M-PESA Africa, also left the company to join Absa Group, marking a period of significant leadership turnover across Kenya’s mobile money industry.
