Anwar Soussa picked to steer Safaricom-led telco consortium in Ethiopia
The Global Partnership for Ethiopia (GPE), the consortium led by Kenya’s telco giant Safaricom that won a licence to set up a telecom network in Ethiopia, has picked Anwar Soussa to steer the business.
Mr Anwar will be the Managing Director (MD) of the Operating Company in Ethiopia, effective July 1, this year.
He will report to the Board of the Ethiopia entity and Safaricom PLC Chief Executive Officer Peter Ndegwa.
Until his appointment, Mr Anwar was the Managing Director of Vodacom in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Chairperson of Vodacash (M-PESA) a position he has held since 2017.
He will now steer the Ethiopian Operating Company on behalf of the Global Partnership for Ethiopia Consortium – the global entity that was recently awarded a licence to provide telecom services in Ethiopia.
In addition to Safaricom, the partnership includes Vodacom Group, Vodafone Group, Sumitomo Corporation – one of the largest international trading and business investment companies; and CDC Group – the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor.
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Mr Anwar will be responsible for the execution of the consortium’s goal to bring about transformational economic and social impact in Ethiopia and positively enhance the lives of the country’s over 112 million people.
Ethiopia is one of the last countries in the world to embrace competition in the telecom industry through a process that was started by the government in 2019 as part of its economic reforms.
Mr Anwar has cemented Vodacom DRC as the largest Vodacom operation outside of South Africa by driving major strides in operational performance, crossing the USD $500 million in service revenue mark for the first time last year.
He will be charged with formulating strategies and plans to ensure the delivery of quality and affordable mobile and internet connectivity, enabling millions of Ethiopians to access services.
Prior to joining Vodacom, the Greek national served as the Chief Executive Officer of Airtel in Uganda and Chad. He has also worked in various senior leadership capacities at MTN and Digicel, among other telcos.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the American College of Greece and a master’s degree in Marketing from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada.
