If you broke into George Odenyo’s office at Delta Towers you would face two puzzling scenarios. One, you wouldn’t be able to nick anything, and two, you’d be hard-pressed to know what he does for a living. This is because his office is bare.
There is a table with a computer. No papers. No trays, no photos of his family. No trophies. There is a lonesome coat hanger and a small glass plaque that his children gifted him for Father’s Day. It brings to mind that quote by Ram Dass: “Emptiness is not really empty, emptiness is full of everything. The ‘everything’ just isn’t manifest.” Or he might just be a minimalist.
Odenyo is the CEO of American Tower Company (ATC), the American real estate investment firm that owns, develops, and operates wireless and broadcast communication infrastructure - towers, telecom masts - in several countries. ATC owns about 4,000 towers across Kenya that host Telkom, Safaricom, Airtel, and other small telecom companies on a shared infrastructure platform.
His resume is as minimalist as his office; he’s worked in two organisations, according to his LinkedIn profile. For 14 years he worked with MTN Business, leaving as Head of Finance. Then five years with Eaton Towers as Finance Director before the company was acquired by ATC.
Your desk is so bare. Are you a minimalist or are you hardly in the office?
I have the right team in the company so my desk doesn’t have to look busy. Part of me is also opposed to holding onto things, I try to release them as soon as possible. If there's nothing I can do with it, I give it to the next person who can address it.
How much does one tower cost and what does it take to build one?
First, our customer, the operator, has to identify where they want the tower, which is driven by need, often determined by the population. We will then acquire the site, and get the necessary permits from the National Environmental Management Authority, Kenya Civil Aviation, and county governments. Once we acquire the site we erect the tower and then power it with a grid. A tower costs about $150,000 (Sh19.3 million), give or take.
As a numbers guy, how do you find transitioning to dealing with people?
Well, I have appreciated that as a leader, you are as strong as your people. I have led teams in my previous roles so it’s not entirely new. People can be difficult but the trick lies in figuring out how to understand them. Everybody is motivated by something; a dream or ambition and it’s upon you to connect them with whatever it is. So my job is to find how their dreams connect with the company's dreams.
And what's your dream?
Make life better for me, my family, and my community. I seek to be impactful, and valuable; to change the world.
Do you feel like you are doing that here at ATC, building towers?
Yes, I am. Our purpose is to build a more connected Africa. Towers connect people by enabling them to communicate well. Most misunderstandings come from people not being able to communicate.
Did you always want to be in finance?
No, I didn’t know about finance until later. When I was in high school my late father invited somebody to have a chat with me, a guy who had excelled in his high school and was then in university. The talk was not more than five minutes. He talked about CPA (Certified Public Accountant) a lot. He said it was something I could do as I waited to go to university. I was sold on the idea. I then eagerly waited for KCA to announce applications in the newspapers. I would bother the principal (St Marys Yala) for the newspaper every week to check if the call was out. That’s how I came across Strathmore in the newspaper and applied and eventually enrolled.
So if this fellow was a doctor do you think you would have been influenced to study medicine?
Yes, definitely. However, in high school, I was good at electricity and my dream was to be an electrical engineer. But this guy came earlier before that could happen. [Chuckle]
Is there a chance that you might still pursue that love?
No, I'm in that environment either way. I have so many engineers here. So I still enjoy what I do because of that. In hindsight, I think there's a reason why things happen the way they happen. I have no regrets.
Have you had conversations with yourself about what your purpose is, and why you are here? Are you here to build masts?
I think we are in this world to create an impact, to make a difference. I believe that helping others is integral to our purpose. I have benefited from the generosity of others in my entire journey, some of whom were not even my relatives. So I’m also doing the same. It makes me happy to see others excel. My earlier years were instrumental in shaping who I have become.
By the time I was joining the University of Nairobi, I was already done with part two of my CPA which allowed me to get an internship that eventually turned into a job. Against the wishes of my parents and the advice of other people close to me, I decided to drop out of university. I completed my CPA later at Catholic University. I have worked and learned, not the other way around.
How old are you?
I’m 45 now. I was born in Pumwani but my dad moved to the village when I was five or so years old. It's a place called Ugunja in Nyanza, you might know it. I struggled academically in my earlier years until around Class Six when I met a teacher who changed how I viewed academics and helped me excel. I’m the only son in a family of three girls and that didn’t help in those years when I was not performing well because my mom was on my case.
What was the impact of growing up in a family of girls as the only boy?
Quite interesting. You learn a lot about women without realising it. But also perhaps that made me more empathetic to women. I wasn’t spared from chores because I was the only boy, in fact, sometimes I was made to do a little more. My dad believed in me. Unfortunately, he died when I was 25 years old.
Who filled the role of a father for you after he died?
When he died I became the 'father' in the family. My mom handed everything over to me. She died two years ago.
Do you have children?
I have three; an 18, a 17, and a 10-year-old. A boy and two girls. This is a plaque they gifted me for Father’s Day.
Can you believe you have a 18-year-old?
[Laughs] Yes, I can. It's because I started so early. I started working at 21 and that changed my life because when money started coming in, my old man, to ensure I did not get lost, encouraged me to find a wife and settle down. So at 25 I was already married and I started a family immediately.
What bits of fatherhood do you find very challenging?
Because I grew up in a different time it’s challenging to appreciate the circumstances that our children are growing up in now. It’s often difficult to relate to them and their situation. Everything is different and sometimes you want your child to see things your way but they can’t. You have to accept that it is their life and love them. You cannot control their lives. But I try as much as possible to make sure that I pass the right baton to them.
Do you think you're successful?
As a father?
No, as a man who lives and works.
I don't talk about success. I talk about being valuable. Am I valuable? Yes, for sure. I believe that as long as you are valuable out here in the community, in society, and in the family, then success will follow you.
How do you know for certain that you're valuable?
Because of what you're able to give. You are valuable because of what you are giving at work, at home, and in your community. I believe that as long as you are growing, over time you become valuable. You become valuable by the knowledge that you can share and by the guidance you can give. And that way success can follow you in this season.
What are some of the most difficult things you are experiencing in this season as a man?
Things are moving so fast and I wonder if I will achieve everything I have set out to achieve. But other than that, I think it's a beautiful time to be alive, to be a father, to be a leader, to be living and doing things that need to be done.
When your son gets to the age where he says, I found a wife. What are the top three pieces of advice you will give him?
One, I will let him know that this is his decision, not mine, not his mother's. It is his calling. So he has to take that responsibility single-handedly, of course with support.
I would also like to know why he wants to marry that particular lady. What is it that he likes about her? My son is at that age where he's quite excited about women and I’d tell him that marriage isn’t about beauty or looks, there have to be sound grounding values that inform the choice of a wife. There should be shared values with the woman he wants to marry. And I'll also ask him to do it through church as well. Yeah. Because he's grown up in a spiritual family.