Former Virgin Mobile SA CEO Steve Bailey has quit Nigeria’s Glo Mobile after only a month on the job. Bailey resigned from Virgin at the end of May to take on the role of chief commercial officer at Glo, which is the second largest mobile phone operator in Nigeria after MTN, writes Duncan McLeod.

Bailey, who has returned to SA, says he decided to quit Glo after the company paid him late and then paid him an amount that was less than what had been agreed. “I decided to leave immediately,” he says.

His responsibilities at Glo would have included sales and marketing and “the commercial role and all that encompasses”. Founded in 2003, Glo Mobile is owned by the Mike Adenuga Group and has more than 2 500 employees.

Bailey says he has a number of other career opportunities he is mulling. He says it is “very likely” he will stay in SA rather than taking another international job.

He says the work and living environment in Lagos, where Glo Mobile in based, is “tough”, although he says the city has “improved immensely” in recent years. He says Glo also ensured that his family’s housing and travel requirements were looked after.