Safaricom picks new Ethiopia chief executive on Soussa exit

Safaricom has appointed Wim Vanhelleputte as the new CEO of its Ethiopia unit, effective September 1, just a week after the telco announced the exit of Anwar Sousa, who had been in the position for two years.

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Mr. Vanhelleputte is expected to shift operations of the Ethiopian unit, which will dampen Safaricom’s earnings.

He joined Safaricom from the MTN Group where he has served as Chief Operating Officer since last August, responsible for the performance and governance of four companies operating in West and Central Africa.

Safaricom’s net profit for the year ending March 2023 fell 22.2 percent to Sh52.48 billion from Sh67.49 billion a year earlier, mainly due to increased operating expenses in Ethiopia.

The decline in profits was for the third year in a row from a peak of NIS 73.66 billion in the year ending March 2020, the lowest level for the telecom company since 2017 when net profits amounted to NIS 48.44 billion.

Mr Vanhelleputte has been CEO of MTN Uganda since 2016, a position that Sylvia Muleng held last year after she left as Head of Consumer Business at Safaricom Kenya.

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During his six-year tenure as chairman of Uganda Telecom, he is credited with increasing the number of subscribers from 8.5 million to 16 million, doubling the network’s towers to 3,000 locations and increasing revenues by 75 percent.

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“I am pleased to announce the appointment of Wim Vanhelbot as CEO of Safaricom Telecom Ethiopia PLC effective September 1, 2023,” CEO Peter Ndegwa said in an internal staff call.

Wim brings extensive leadership experience and deep industry knowledge, having worked in the telecom industry across multiple markets in sub-Saharan Africa for over 25 years. “

A Belgian national, Mr. Vanhelleputte began his career as an Associate Engineer at Westinghouse Energy Systems Europe in the Czech Republic before joining IT company Siemens Atea as a Project Engineer in Zimbabwe, and then as a Residential Project Manager in Gabon.

Between 2009 and 2015, he was CEO of MTN Cote d’Ivoire and later joined Airtel Africa between 2015 and 2016, first as Regional Director – Francophone Africa, then as Group CEO of Airtel DRC & Congo. Brazzaville.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in General Engineering and a Master’s degree in Nuclear Physics and Solid Physics, both from Ghent State University in Belgium. He also holds a special degree in Power Plant Management from the Free University of Brussels.

Mr Vanhelleputte will take over from Mr Soussa, who is set to step down at the end of July and will be tasked with building on the milestones achieved by the subsidiary’s first CEO, which include forming the team that launched the commercial operations of Ethiopia’s second telecom operator.

Mr. Sousa has, to date, guided Safaricom Ethiopia to acquire more than four million customers, with the network now covering more than 25 percent of Ethiopia’s population in 50 cities and towns. The telecom company on May 11 was awarded a mobile money license in Ethiopia after paying an investment fee of $150 million (Sh21 billion).

“With Wim joining us, we have planned a smooth transition to ensure we maintain our momentum,” Mr Ndegwa said yesterday.

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