Nairobi, Aug. 16 -- The Airtel fraternity will miss the courage of Anne Kinuthia-Otieno, the founding chief executive of its mobile money division, Airtel Money Kenya.

Ms Kinuthia-Otieno is exiting the corner office at Airtel Money, ending a short but eventful stint during which she took on Safaricom's M-Pesa and managed to carve out a slice of the mobile money market from the dominant player's tight grip.

She has been appointed Visa's vice-president and regional manager for East Africa, marking another milestone in her long career in finance as she now trains her eyes on cross-border payments.

Her move to Visa comes after a period in which she helped strengthen Airtel Money's position in a market long dominated by M-Pesa.

Ms Kinuthia...