Bharti Airtel is to restructure its management across its African operations into clusters spanning multiple countries, as it seeks to accelerate its growth on the continent.
The operator has announced its African operations will be grouped into four strategic business units, effective as of April 1.
Current managing director of Airtel Uganda VG Somasekhar has been appointed executive operations director of the cluster covering Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo Brazzaville, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger and the Seychelles under the new structure.
Christophe Soulet will be executive operations director of the cluster covering Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Sierra Leone and Uganda.
“These two business leaders have distinguished themselves with their exceptional understanding of the African telecoms landscape. We will leverage their experience, leadership and understanding of the African market to accelerate our market leadership opportunities and develop team capabilities as we seek to take our brand to the next level,” said Christian de Faria, chief executive officer (CEO) of Airtel Africa, who was himself only appointed last week.
Current managing director and CEO of Airtel Nigeria Segun Ogunsanya and managing director of Airtel in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Louis Lubala will head up the other two units, which will cover Nigeria and DRC respectively.
The four executives will report to the managing director and CEO of Airtel Africa.
Somasekhar and Soulet will both be based out of Nairobi, Kenya, for their new positions.
Image courtesy of Shutterstock.
