The Global Partnership for Ethiopia (GPE) has today appointed Anwar Soussa as the Managing Director (MD) of its Operating Company in Ethiopia, effective 1st July 2021. He will report to the board of the Ethiopia entity and the Safaricom PLC CEO.
Anwar is currently the Managing Director of Vodacom DRC and the Chairperson of Vodacash (M-PESA), a position he has held since 2017.
He has cemented Vodacom DRC as the largest Vodacom operation outside of South Africa by driving operational performance, crossing the $500 million in service revenue mark for the first time in 2020.
Anwar will lead the Ethiopian Operating Company on behalf of the Global Partnership for Ethiopia Consortium. He 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 its over 112 million people.
Ethiopia is Africa’s second-most populous nation after Nigeria.
“We are delighted to appoint Anwar as Managing Director of our Ethiopian Operating Company and we are confident that he has the right experience and expertise from his time with Vodacom DRC to build a world class telecommunications network in Ethiopia,” Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub says.
“Our immediate priority in Anwar’s appointment is to ensure that the Vodacom Group has the strongest team in place to lead our efforts to connect the next 100 million Africans by 2025, through the delivery of reliable network coverage and transformative technology services.
“Anwar’s successor in the DRC will be announced in due course.”
Prior to joining Vodacom, Anwar served as the Chief Executive Officer of Airtel in Uganda and Chad. Anwar is a Greek national who holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the American College of Greece (Deree) and a master’s degree in Marketing from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada.
Two months ago, a telecoms consortium that includes the Vodacom Group has cracked a rare greenfield opportunity in Ethiopia after winning a coveted bid for the country’s first private-use licence in the sector.
The Safaricom-led consortium includes the Vodacom Group, the Vodafone Group, Sumitomo Corporation and the CDC Group. Kenyan-based Safaricom is part of the Vodacom Group.
