THE Ministry of Public Telecommunications has expressed its mourning of the passing of Guyanese-born Robert Collymore, former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of East Africa’s largest mobile network operator, Safaricom.

In a release signed by Public Telecommunications Minister, Cathy Hughes, Collymore, also called “Bob”, was hailed as “a telecoms giant” who helped to set new standards in the sector.
“His company helped to revolutionize the Mobile Money Market in Kenya and the rest of Africa. He insisted that Kenyans rely on the network for banking services via M-Pesa, the money service that helped propel Safaricom to its status as the first multi-billion-dollar-a-year revenue company on the Nairobi bourse,” Hughes stated.

Under his management, the M-Pesa SIM card-based money transfer application was transferred to a fully-fledged financial service.
Guided by Collymore, Safaricom also introduced M-Pesa Academy, a state of the art school and, altogether, helped millions of Kenyans get banking services.

“Conscious of the incredible developmental work Bob had done in the Telecommunications Sector as Minister of Public Telecommunications, I had hoped to reconnect with him as he was interested in visiting his homeland. We at the Ministry were looking forward to him mentoring and sharing his vast international expertise, especially his mobile money platform experience,” Hughes said.

“Rest and sleep with the angels Bob Collymore, the Telecommunications Sector in Guyana and the world will miss you but remain ever grateful for your exceptional contribution.”
Collymore died on July 1, 2019 at the age of 61 after a two-year battle with cancer.