The Global Partnership for Ethiopia, the Safaricom-led consortium that won a licence to build a telecommunications network in the East African nation, has appointed Anwar Soussa to lead the venture.

Safaricom parent Vodacom, which is a minority shareholder in the venture, said in a statement on Monday that Soussa will be the start-up venture’s first MD, reporting into the board of the Ethiopian entity and to Safaricom’s CEO, Peter Ndegwa. Soussa is currently of Vodacom in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He also serves as chairman of Vodacash (M-Pesa).

“He has cemented Vodacom DRC as the largest Vodacom operation outside of South Africa by driving operational performance, crossing the US$500-million in service revenue mark for the first time in 2020,” Vodacom said.

He will be responsible for 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”.

“We are confident that he has the right experience and expertise from his time with Vodacom DRC to build a world-class telecoms network in Ethiopia,” Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub said.

‘Immediate priority’

“Our immediate priority in Anwar’s appointment is to ensure that Vodacom Group has the strongest team in place…”

Prior to joining Vodacom, Soussa served as CEO of Airtel in Uganda and Chad. He 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.