Brian Herlihy will announce on Tuesday that he is stepping down as CEO of Seacom, TechCentral can learnt from company sources. He will be succeeded by Mark Simpson on 5 September but will remain an executive director of the company.

Seacom, which owns and operates a high-capacity submarine cable system along Africa’s east coast, confirms Herlihy is relinquishing the CEO role to focus on “strategic projects essential for Seacom’s continued success”.

The company says Herlihy will “retain a key role in the strategic direction of the company, focusing on maximising development opportunities and network deployment”.

Simpson is an industry executive with more than 25 years of experience in telecommunications. He has held a number of senior positions during his career, most recently as president and CEO of Pacific Crossing, a company operating a trans-Pacific cable system between the US and Japan. He was chief operating officer and chief technology officer at Asian Netcom (now Pacnet) and CEO of C2C Pte, Asia’s then-longest cable system.

According to Seacom, Simpson will be responsible for taking the company into the “era of data-based projects and growth, assisted by Herlihy”.

Seacom is owned by Industrial Promotion Services, an arm of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, which holds a 26,56% stake. Other shareholders include Remgro (25%), Convergence Partners (12,5%) and the Shanduka Group (12,5%). — Staff reporter, TechCentral