Fitting into big shoes at Synovate

MAGGIE IRERI: MD

Age: 37

Education: B.Ed, Kenyatta University 1998

MBA (JKUAT) 2011

Moi Girls School

CPS Part 1 (best student nationally in sections 1 and 2 exams)

Professional background:

1999 – Research assistant, SBO Research

2000 – Research Executive, Synovate Uganda

2001 – Research Manager, Synovate Uganda

2003 - MD Synovate Uganda

2005 – Business Dev Director, Synovate

2011- MD Synovate Kenya.

Thirteen years worth of experience in sales, marketing, field operations and market research is what led Maggie to the big seat at Ipsos-Synovate.

She was also among the women who made it to the Business Daily list of the Top 40 under 40 women in Kenya last year.

Before her posting to the big seat, she worked at Synovate Uganda for five years, two as a country manager.

Over time, she has set up offices in Uganda, Nigeria, Mozambique and Zambia.

Since Ipsos-Synovate is widely regarded as Kenyan pollster of repute, their role in the coming election is crucial, a responsibility that is not lost on Maggie.

We meet at her Riverside office at 7.30am, a large minimalist space with large windows.

A small muted TV on the wall is tuned to some business channel.

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My friends and I were wondering the other day who you guys interview because we have never been interviewed, which made us ask ourselves; who do polling companies interview for these polls?

(Laughs) Our survey targets Kenyan adults who are 19 million, according to the last census.  

Our sample is 2,000, which means that the chance of being part of our random sample is one person per 8,000 Kenyans (i.e. probability of 0.000125). 

Our statistically derived sample for Nairobi is 300, yet Nairobi has a population of about 1.6 million adults.  

Looking at these numbers, the chance of being sampled is like winning a lottery.

So going by our math, you are likely to be interviewed in 10 to 15 years time.

You worked in Uganda for sometime. How did it feel like?