Nigerian Businessman Appointed CEO of Airtel Africa
The Airtel Africa Group has announced the new appointment of Olusegun “Segun” Ogunsanya, as its Managing Director (MD) and CEO. Ogunsanya took the helm of the group as of 1 October 2021.
This comes as former CEO, Raghu Mandava, who led Airtel Africa since 2016, was announced to be stepping down from the company’s board of directors in October 2021.
“We are delighted to appoint Segun Ogunsanya as the Group’s next Chief Executive Officer. He has displayed significant drive and energy in turning around the Nigeria business by focusing on network modernisation, distribution, and operational efficiency,” said Airtel Chairman, Sunil Bharti Mittal, when Ogunsanya was first announced to replace Mandava.
A Businessman of Some Repute
Previous to his appointment as CEO of Airtel Africa, Ogunsanya held the position of Managing Director and CEO of Airtel Nigeria and was responsible for the overall management of the operations in the company’s largest market.
A businessman by trade with more than 25 years of management experience in banking, consumer goods, and telecoms. Before joining Airtel in 2012, Segun held leadership roles at Coca-Cola in Ghana, Nigeria, and Kenya (as MD and CEO).
He has also been the MD of Nigerian Bottling Company Ltd (Coca-Cola Hellenic-owned) and Group head of retail banking operations at Ecobank Transnational Inc, covering 28 countries in Africa.
Ogunsanya is a registered chartered accountant and a graduate of Electrical & Electronics Engineering from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
“I am looking forward to building on the solid foundations the Group has established for future sustainable growth across Africa,” said Ogunsanya about his new appointment as CEO of Airtel Africa.
“Moving forward, we will invest even more in our network and distribution channels to serve the communities where we operate. By doing this, we will continue to sustainably bridge the digital divide, expand financial inclusion and meet the evolving needs of our customers,” he adds.
