Becoming a CEO in either a private or government company in Kenya does not just happen overnight. You have to work through the ranks before rising to the top. At least all CEOs in Kenya have a Bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree. This therefore means that ideally you must have a good education background to become a CEO in Kenya.

In a study conducted by Kenyayote business team, it was noted that about 55% of Kenya’s most powerful and highest paid CEOs in Kenya are graduates in Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) and postgraduates in Master of Business Administration (list of highest paid CEOs in Kenya).

We could not however, trace and find the exact university or course that Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore studied but we found out that Robert William Collymore commonly known as Bob Collymore grew up in his grandmother’s home in Guyana where he schooled. He later moved to the United Kingdom where his mother was working. In 1974, He joined Selhurst High School for Boys in London which was by then a grammar school. Selhurst High School seems to have been transformed to Selhurst Mathematics and Computing Specialist School.

Below is a list of the courses that the top most powerful CEOs in Kenya did

1. James Mwangi (Equity Bank CEO) – University of Nairobi, Bachelor of Commerce (BCom)
2. Bob Collymore (CEO Safaricom) – Selhurst Mathematics and Computing Specialist School.
3. Benson Wairegi (CEO of Britam) – Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) and Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Nairobi.
4. Sam Shollei (Standard Group CEO)- University of Nairobi, Barchelor of Commerce Degree and MBA
5. Mr. Mbuvi Ngunze (CEO Kenya Airways) – Harvard Business School, Management Development Program (PMD75) and Bachelor of Commerce ( (accounting)
6. Frank M Ireri (CEO Housing Finance) – University of Nairobi, Bachelor’s degree Accounting
7. Joshua Oigara (KCB CEO)- Edith Cowan University-Australia, Masters in Business Administration, University of Nairobi, Bachelor of Commerce degree ( Accounting) and Duke University-North Carolina, Program for Management Development
8. Tabitha Mukami Karanja (CEO Keroche Breweries) – Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration.

The above information is based on Kenyayote evaluation. The evaluation relies on the fact that the top most powerful CEOs are probably the highest paid.