Bob Collymore has been appointed to replace Safaricom CEO Michael Joseph who retires in November after a decade at the helm of the telephony firm.

"I have been the CEO of Safaricom for the past 10 years and I believe the time has now come for me to hand over the reigns of the company to someone else," said Joseph on Thursday in a press statement.

Collymore, 52, has worked in the telecommunications industry for more than 30 years in a variety of roles including that of Global Purchasing Director in Vodafone and Consumer Marketing Director for Asia based in Japan.

"I am both gratified and sad that the time has come to move on, but feel that, as CEO, I have managed to do what many others yearn to do, and that is to change the life of millions of people through our products and services," Joseph said.

Joseph will remain on the Safaricom and Vodacom boards and will have an advisory role with the Kenyan firm for two years.

Bob is famous for launching Vodafone's highly successful 3G strategy into the Japanese business market.

Joseph in March announced his plans to step down in 2010 after a decade at the helm, during which he turned the telecommunication company into East Africa's biggest company by market capitalisation and profit numbers.

Joseph said he had intended to leave Safaricom last year, but the timing was not right.

Joseph who started out as a telecommunications technician over 40 years ago has steered the company to new heights with the firms's shares now accounting for more than half of those traded each day at the Nairobi Stock Exchange.

Before joining Vodafone, Joseph worked for telecommunications companies in Hungary, Spain, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Korea, United States, Australia and the Middle East.

Joseph has specialized in license acquisition, construction of new networks, turnaround management and start-up of new operations during his career that spans over 40 years.

Photo courtesy of technocentral.co.za