The Guyanese-born CEO died at his home in Nairobi on Monday morning, according to a statement from the chairman of the company, Nicholas Ng’ang’a.
Collymore, who had been suffering from cancer, had already made known his intention to retire from Safaricom earlier this year, due to health complications.
He is survived by his wife Wambui Collymore and four children.
Collymore had been undergoing treatment for Acute Myeloid Leukemia, since 2017.
“He has been undergoing treatment for this condition since then in different hospitals most recently at Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi. In recent weeks, his condition worsened and he succumbed to the cancer at his home in the early hours of Monday,” read the statement.
Twitter is awash with messages of condolence to the friends and family of the late businessman, who was credited with running and growing the fortunes of Kenya’s largest mobile network operator, valued at an estimated $11.7 billion in 2018.
He started working as the Safaricom CEO in November, 2010.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday sent a message of condolence following Collymore’s death.
“(He) served on our Vision 2030 Board where he offered his managerial expertise in pursuit of our national development agenda. As a country, we’ve therefore lost a distinguished corporate leader whose contribution to our national well-being will be greatly missed,” read a statement from the Kenyan leader.
