UPDATE 2-Safaricom's Joseph steps down, Collymore takes over

* Joseph's decade at Safaricom's helm ends in November

* South Africa's Vodacom corporate affairs head takes over

* Analysts see continuation of innovations

(Adds analysts)

By Duncan Miriri

NAIROBI, July 22 (Reuters) - Safaricom (SCOM.NR: Quote), east Africa's largest mobile operator, said on Thursday its chief executive, Michael Joseph, would step down in November and be replaced by Bob Collymore.

Collymore, 52, has served in various capacities for Vodafone's (VOD.L: Quote) operations in Africa, and is currently Chief Officer for Corporate Affairs for South Africa's Vodacom (VODJ.J: Quote). He has been on Safaricom's board for four years.

Joseph told Reuters in a March interview he planned to retire before the end of 2010. [ID:nLDE62H1H7]

Collymore, who launched Vodafone's 3G strategy in the Japanese business market, worked for retailer Dixons, mobile operator O2 and BT (BT.L: Quote) in Britain before joining Vodafone.

"Bob Collymore has been involved with Safaricom so is not a greenhorn from another planet. I think he will surely have an intimate understanding of the business," said Aly Khan Satchu, an independent analyst.

During his 10 years at Safaricom, Joseph helped turn the company from a start-up into one of the most profitable firms in the region, building its subscriber base to more than 16 million from 17,000.

He also presided over the company during a popular IPO in 2008 that added 800,000 investors to its shareholder register on top of the Kenyan government and Vodafone. He also pioneered the successful M-Pesa mobile money transfers.

Joseph will remain on the Safaricom and Vodacom boards and will have an advisory role with the Kenyan firm for two years.

HOT BED OF INNOVATION

The news comes ahead of the release of the firm's first-half results, which are expected to be lifted by growth in data services like M-Pesa.

"This will give the market a sense of confidence that the business is strong despite his (Michael's) departure," said an analyst at African Alliance.

Innovations like M-Pesa are strongly identified with the legacy of the art-loving Michael Joseph's leadership.

"Safaricom under Michael Joseph has been a hot bed of innovation and impeccable execution. I do not expect that to change," said Satchu.

Those who know Collymore said he is a very softly-spoken executive, who is likely to depart from Joseph's style of constantly engaging with the media at events and on television interview sets.

It was not clear how the firm's shares, which typically account for half of the traded daily volumes at the Nairobi bourse, would react to the news when trade opens on Friday.

"The share price had moved lower over the last three sessions and might have been pre-empting this announcement," said analyst Satchu. The shares closed Thursday's session at 5.70 shillings ($0.069) each.

Safaricom posted a 37 percent rise in pretax profit to 20.97 billion shillings for the year ended March. ($1=81.85 Kenyan Shilling) (Editing by David Clarke and Simon Jessop)