Ahmad Farroukh joins Smile Telecoms as ED, operations

ITRealms:

The former chief executive officer (CEO) of MTN Nigeria and South Africa, Mr. Ahmad Farroukh has joined Smile Telecoms Holdings Ltd as the Executive Director, Operations, reports ITRealms.

This appointment follows the recent approval to this effect by the Board of Directors of Smiles Telecoms, which ITRealms gathered took effect from May 1, 2017.

Ahmad, ITRealms also gathered, is an experienced telecoms executive with a distinguished record of commercial success, extensive experience working in Africa and an impressive ability to drive strategy and profitability.

The Smile Group’s Chief Executive Officer, Irene Charnley, said Farroukh has held executive management positions at Investcom Holdings and the MTN Group, including being CEO of MTN Nigeria for five years, CEO of MTN South Africa and MTN Group Chief Operating Executive (responsible for 19 countries).

ITRealms reports that recently, he served as CEO of Mobily, Saudi Arabia’s second largest telecommunications operator. Stressing that given the extent of the opportunity and the significance to Smile, Ahmad will spend the majority of his executive time in Nigeria.

“The Africa telecoms market is as dynamic as it is challenging, and Ahmad Farroukh is perfectly suited to lead Smile’s next exciting phase of growth, as we have transitioned from a spectrum rich start-up to the most reliable data gigabyte factory in Sub-Sahara Africa,” Charnley said.

ITRealms recalls that Smile Telecom is a pan-African telecommunications group with operations in Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

For Ahmad, “Africa is experiencing explosive data growth, and I am honoured to have the opportunity to lead the operations of the continent’s best 4G LTE network at this exciting time. It has also been a revelation after over 20 years in the industry to witness the power and versatility of Smile’s proprietary technology applications and billing platform, which was developed in-house and provides a huge competitive and cost advantage.”

Ahmad holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration and Accounting from the Lebanese American University and is a Certified Public Accountant, New York, USA.

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