Safaricom's Ex CEO Michael Joseph has today received the prestigious Leadership in Technology Management Award from PICMET (Portland International Centre For Management of Engineering and Technology) recognizing his work developing Vodafone M-Pesa, the mobile money transfer and payment service that has transformed the lives of millions of people in emerging markets.

Mr. Michael Joseph current Director of Mobile Money, Vodafone acted CEO Safaricom since July 2000 when the company was re-launched as a joint-venture with Telkom Kenya.  He has extensive international experience in the implementation and operation of large wireless and wire-line networks and saw the company rise from a subscriber base of fewer than 20,000 to 14,022,262 as of July 22nd 2009.

Today Safaricom is one of the leading companies in East Africa and is the most profitable company in the region. With daily transactions that amount to billions. M-Pesa has grown to be a business success for Safaricom posting Ksh 26.6 billion in revenue for the financial year 2013/14 which was a 21.6% growth compared to the previous reporting period. An average of Ksh 101.3 billion was transacted between the period April 2013 and March 2014.

The service has also proved as a source of income for many households, with 81,025 agents rolled-out across the country. "When I went to Kenya to become the CEO of Safaricom I wanted to change people's lives for the better.  I was determined that we would be an innovative company by design – the now world-famous M-Pesa product was the result of that thinking." Said Mr. Joseph

Established in 1991, PICMET Awards recognises and honours individuals who have provided leadership in managing technology by establishing a vision, providing a strategic direction, and facilitating the implementation strategies for that vision.

PICMET generates and disseminates knowledge on technology management to around 17,000 technology management specialists in academia, industry and government throughout the world.