Airtel Money Kenya chief exits months before planned London listing

Anne Kinuthia Otieno has stepped down as managing director of Airtel Money Kenya after nearly five years, leaving the mobile money business just months before parent company Airtel Africa plans to list the unit in London. Her departure comes weeks after Airtel Kenya appointed a new managing director and days after Safaricom announced the exit of its top financial services executive, extending a wave of leadership changes at Kenya’s two largest mobile money providers. Kinuthia Otieno announced her departure in a LinkedIn post on Saturday, saying she would soon begin a new chapter but did not disclose her next role. “Together with an incredible team, we strengthened Airtel Money’s position in the market,” she wrote, citing an expansion of its merchant and agent network, new partnerships and an overhaul of its core mobile money platform. She joined Airtel in August 2021 after more than a decade in banking, including senior roles in governance and sales distribution at Absa Group and more than seven years at Barclays. During her tenure, Airtel Money significantly narrowed the gap with market leader M-PESA, albeit from a low base. Airtel Money held just 3.1% of Kenya’s mobile money subs