Airtel Money Kenya is heading into a major corporate milestone without Anne Kinuthia-Otieno, the executive who oversaw its push to become a stronger challenger to Safaricom’s M-PESA.
Ms Kinuthia-Otieno has stepped down as managing director of Airtel Money Kenya, ending a nearly five-year tenure during which the mobile money platform expanded its agent footprint, deepened commercial partnerships and increased its share of Kenya’s fast-growing digital payments market.
Her exit comes as Airtel Africa prepares to take its mobile money business to investors through a planned London listing next year, a move expected to unlock value from one of the group’s fastest-growing divisions.
Ms Kinuthia-Otieno announced her departure in a LinkedIn post on Saturday, thanking colleagues and highlighting the progress made during her leadership.
“Together with an incredible team, we strengthened Airtel Money’s position in the market,” she said.
She did not disclose her next assignment.
The former banker joined Airtel in 2021 after more than a decade in financial services, including leadership roles at Absa Group and Barclays, bringing experience in governance, sales and distribution to a mobile payments business seeking to close the gap with the market leader.
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Under Ms Kinuthia-Otieno’s watch, Airtel Money increased its foothold in Kenya. Communications Authority of Kenya figures show the platform’s share of mobile money subscriptions rose from 3.1 percent in September 2021 to 10.9 percent by March 2026.
The growth, however, has taken place in a market where M-PESA remains firmly dominant. Safaricom’s service accounted for 89.1 percent of subscriptions at the end of the period, down from 96.8 percent when she took charge.
The leadership change at Airtel Money follows a broader reshuffle within the group’s Kenyan operations. Djibril Tobe took over as Airtel Kenya managing director on July 1, replacing Ashish Malhotra, who moved to lead Indus Towers’ African operations.
The timing is significant for Airtel Africa as it prepares investors for the next phase of its financial services strategy. The company said last week that London was its preferred market for the initial public offering of Airtel Money, planned for the second half of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals and market conditions.
Airtel Money has grown into a sizeable African payments platform, serving 56.5 million customers by the end of June and processing annualised transaction values above $245 billion, according to Airtel Africa’s first-quarter results.
