Airtel Nigeria’s mother company Bharti Airtel announced it will be appointing Segun Ogunsanya as the chief executive officer for the Nigerian business.
The appointment will be effective November 26, 2012, Airtel said. Ogusanya will be taking over the position from Rajan Swaroop, who has served in the post for the past two years.
Swaroop moves on to become non-executive director on Airtel Nigeria’s board, following the completion of the transition process. He will however continue to work closely with the company’s leadership team.
Upon assuming his new position, Ogunsanya will be responsible for defining and delivering the business strategy and providing overall leadership for Airtel Nigeria and willalso report to Manoj Kohli, CEO (International) and Joint Managing Director of Bharti Airtel.
Dr. Oba Otudeko, Chairman, Airtel Nigeria, said: “I look forward to working with him [Ogusanya] towards making Airtel the most loved brand in the daily lives of Nigerians. It is our resolve to continue building a robust pipeline of local talent in Nigeria as part of Bharti Airtel’s Africa Leadership Initiative.”
Ogunsanya has 24 years of experience across multiple geographies, organisations and diverse sectors such as Coca Cola, Banking and Arthur Anderson. His last assignment was with The Coca-Cola Company, where he started his career in Finance and gradually transitioned into senior leadership roles with the various bottling operations of The Coca-Cola Company across diverse markets and countries in Africa.
In his last stint, as the Managing Director and CEO of Nigerian Bottling Company, he was responsible for over $1bn revenue operations.
A Chartered Accountant, he holds a Bachelors of Science in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from University of Ife, Nigeria.
Kohli said: “I am delighted to have Segun on board and am confident that his rich and diverse experience will add immense value to our operations in Nigeria. Segun’s appointment underlines Bharti Airtel’s commitment to promoting African talent and building a world-class leadership team.”
