De La Rue taps Ex-Safaricom Boss Michael Joseph to Join its Board

De La Rue EPZ Kenya Limited, a cash minting business that is majority owned by Switzerland-based Thomas De Rue AG, has picked on Michael Joseph, former top executive and board chairman at Safaricom and Kenya Airways, to sit in its Boardroom.

De La Rue has undergone a c-suite retooling process that has seen its majority owner exit and offload its entire 60% stake to Mauritius-based Monarch Capital. The Mauritius-based investment firm, whose owners are not public knowledge, was incorporated On October 6^th last year.

De La Rue also picks two new directors

De La Rue Kenya EPZ Limited has also picked on Andrew Pkemoi Lopokoiyot, an executive at Wilken Group and Ugandan businessman Humphrey Arnold Munyamerere Nzeyi, founder of Invicta Africa Limited, to join its Board of Directors.

The firm begun operations in Kenya after setting up its minting machine at Ruaraka, Nairobi in 1992. In 2017, the Kenya Government bought a stake in the firm, coming in as a joint venture partner to the cash printing business.

The cash printer shut its machines down more than two years ago after the Kenya Kwanza administration sought a new currency printing firm, ending its cash minting monopoly status.

Why De La Rue shut down

The firm shut down its operations in March 2023 due to lack of new orders. De La Rue then spend close to KSh2.48 billion on layoffs and exit costs. The firm remains active but printing has been suspended.

Since 2023, the Central Bank of Kenya switched to a German firm Giesecke Devrient Currency Technologies GmbH, one of the world largest banknote printers, based in Munich, for its new banknotes supplies.

The German firm entered into a 5-year contract with the Kenya Government, to print new notes to replace those torn or worn out.

“De La Rue effectively exited its manufacturing operations in Kenya. Interestingly, the Kenya Government still owned a 40% stake in the joint venture, but without CBK orders the plant was no longer commercially viable,” said CFA Dedan Maina.

ALSO READ: Inside De La Rue – Kenya’s Troubled Money Maker