How Sylvia Mulinge has transformed Safaricom PLC to a profitable institution

By Jeff Kuria

Sylvia Mulinge is currently serving as the Chief Consumer Business Officer at Safaricom PLC, a purpose-led technology organization with a large market capitalization and the most profitable company in East and Central Africa.

Previously, Sylvia served as the Chief Customer Officer at Safaricom where she was responsible for driving the company’s customer obsession strategy to deliver long term shareholder growth.

She is a purposeful and impact driven leader who is passionate about transforming customers lives using technology as an enabler of positive change that impacts communities and individuals.

Sylvia was born in Nairobi and brought up in Nakuru.

She attended St. Xaviers Primary School in Nakuru County , and Mary Mount Secondary School for her secondary education.

She studied at The University of Nairobi, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Food Science and Technology.

There after she got a job as a management trainee at Unilever, and from there she grew her career as a marketing and sales person in the commercial space.

Sylvia who is the first born in a family of 5 is a woman of faith and is a strong believer of taking up opportunities thus becoming a director at Safaricom at the age of 34 years.

Being a mother of two, balancing her femininity and being a woman leader, she is passionate about fitness, life, women and entrepreneurship.

Sylvia’s journey reads like a dream, having worked at Safaricom for more than 14 years, she is now a Safaricom foundation trustee that believes in integrity and empathy.

She has faced unconscious biases while climbing up the ladder but she navigated her way through it all, by owning the spaces, scaling up and stepping up the plate.

This explaining why she is always encouraging companies to create more room for women more especially in companies management.

Her passion for transforming lives, leadership, women empowerment and creating community impact has her currently serving on several boards that drive this agenda.

She has also spearheaded various initiatives to empower women in business and entrepreneurship.

Over the last twenty years, Sylvia has developed a strong track record in strategic thinking, brand building, new business development, commercial execution, as well as people growth and development in the Telecommunications and Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sectors.

She is inspired by driving positive change in society. Sylvia is a certified executive coach and a mentor in both her personal and professional life.

She operates on the principles of partnership, humility, openness and professionalism. But when all is said and done, her most treasured role is that of a mother to her two beautiful children.

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