Pan-African telecommunications group Paratus has appointed Neill Nortje as country manager of Paratus Zambia. He succeeds Marius van Vuuren, who has been appointed group chief operating officer.
Nortje joined Paratus Zambia two years ago, launching the company’s consumer service before being promoted to operations manager. He brings pan-African telco experience spanning wholesale voice, data, enterprise connectivity, operations, cloud and data centre services.
Before joining Paratus, Nortje held senior positions at Wingu Africa, Telecom Italia and Neotel, building experience in pan-African data centre infrastructure, wholesale telecommunications and cross-border connectivity.
“Paratus has always stood out to me as a company that gets things done – and done right,” says Nortje. “It has built an outstanding reputation in Zambia, supported by an exceptional team and a strong customer-first culture. Marius leaves behind a fantastic foundation and I relish the challenge of building on the company’s success as we continue to grow and strengthen our market position.”
Nortje says Zambia is entering a period of digital growth driven by economic stability, rising investment and growing demand for reliable connectivity and digital services. “Our immediate priorities are to continue expanding network capacity into Zambia and beyond, strengthening our enterprise offering and further developing Zambia’s role as a regional connectivity hub. We also want to continue enhancing the customer experience by delivering the reliability, resilience and service excellence for which Paratus is credited.”
Enterprise services
Enterprise services will remain a major focus, particularly as organisations adopt cloud technologies and respond to evolving data localisation requirements. Nortje believes Paratus Zambia is well positioned to support this, given its infrastructure, local cloud services and its Lusaka Tier 3 data centre.
He also sees significant opportunity to improve the country’s digital ecosystem by strengthening local internet peering and encouraging greater collaboration between network operators.
“Too much internet traffic still travels outside Zambia before returning to local users. By improving local connectivity and keeping more content closer to the users here in Zambia, we can deliver a faster, more resilient and more affordable internet service for businesses and communities alike.”
Nortje is also focused on using technology for social impact. Recent initiatives include providing Starlink connectivity to a previously unconnected school in rural Zambia. “Connectivity has the power to change lives,” he says. “Whether it’s enabling businesses to compete globally or giving children access to educational resources they never had before, technology creates opportunities that have a lasting and positive impact.”
Paratus Group CEO Schalk Erasmus says: “Neill combines deep industry expertise with an excellent understanding of the Zambian market and our business. Having already played an important role in Paratus Zambia’s recent success, we are confident he will lead the company to yet more growth and new horizons.”
About Paratus Zambia
Paratus Zambia is part of the Paratus Group, a pan-African network operator offering business and home connectivity, co-location and cloud services across Zambia.
The company has established a countrywide microwave and fibre network supported by international points of presence across Africa and beyond. It also operates an ISO-certified Tier 3 design data centre in Lusaka for secure co-location.
Paratus Zambia offers a home internet service delivering reliable connectivity with unlimited data and enhanced security features, backed by 24/7 technical support.
Paratus is also a provider of LEO satellite services.
With a belief in Africa’s potential at its core, the company continues to invest in infrastructure and deliver connectivity solutions that drive technology and progress across the continent.
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