Sitoyo Lopokoiyit, Managing Director of M-PESA Africa, will leave Safaricom on 31 March 2026 to take up a new role outside the Vodacom Group, the company has announced.
Lopokoiyit has led M-PESA Africa since April 2021, overseeing its expansion to eight African countries and serving over 60 million customers and more than 5 million businesses.
Under his leadership, the platform evolved from a peer-to-peer money transfer service into a comprehensive fintech ecosystem that includes payments, savings, credit, merchant solutions, and both interoperable and global payments.
He joined Safaricom in July 2011 as Head of M-PESA Strategy and Business Development and has held several senior roles within the Safaricom and Vodacom groups, including Director of M-Commerce at Vodacom Tanzania and Chief Financial Services Officer at Safaricom PLC.
As a member of the executive committee, he has contributed to many of Safaricom’s key milestones.
Prior to joining Safaricom, Lopokoiyit worked across multiple sectors, including as Business Advisor and Merchandising Manager at Caltex under Chevron Kenya Limited.
His early engagement with Safaricom helped shape the agent aggregator model now widely used in mobile money globally.
During his tenure, he also played a major role in forging global partnerships with companies such as Visa, Ant Financial, PayPal, Microsoft, and Huawei, strengthening M-PESA’s international profile and positioning Africa at the forefront of financial innovation.
In a tweet on X, Lawyer Donald Kipkorir stated that Sitoyo’s leadership at M-Pesa forever transformed the money markets in Kenya.
“My friend Sitoyo Lopokoiyit’s run as the M-Pesa Managing Director comes to an end! As William Shakespeare said:
“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances.”
“His story of a Pokot boy leaving a village known for rustling cattle from my people, Marakwet, to bestride the financial sector in Kenya is a story of legends! As he closes one chapter & opens a new one, I wish my friend GODSPEED!”