Safaricom Ethiopia Gets New CEO

Leading telecommunications company Safaricom has announced the appointment of Wim Vanhelleputte as the CEO of its Ethiopia business – Safaricom Ethiopia – effective 1 September 2023. Wim will take over Anwar Soussa who will step down from the firm at the end of July after a two-year stint at the helm.

“As Wim joins us, we have planned for a seamless transition to ensure that we maintain our momentum so far in delivering our vision to transform lives through a digital future for all Ethiopians. Please join us in extending a warm welcome to Wim, and once again thank Anwar Soussa for his contribution as the first CEO of Safaricom Ethiopia,” Safaricom said in a memo signed by Group CEO Peter Ndgewa.

The Belgian national joins Safaricom Ethiopia from MTN Group, where he was the Operations Executive – Markets since August 2022 and he was responsible for the performance and governance of four operating companies in West and Central Africa. Immediately before this, he served as the CEO of MTN Uganda, a role he held since 2016.

Between 2009 to 2015, Wim was the CEO of MTN Cote d’Ivoire. He joined Airtel Africa briefly between 2015 and 2016, first as Regional Director – Francophone Africa, then as Cluster CEO for Airtel DRC and Congo.

Wim has also held senior roles in various other telecommunication companies including Chief Executive Officer at Sentel GSM in Senegal, Managing Director of TchadMobile in Chad, and General Manager at Telcel Gabon.

He began his career as an Associate Engineer at Westinghouse Energy Systems Europe in the Czech Republic, before joining Siemens Atea as a Project Engineer in Zimbabwe, and then as a Residential Project Manager in Gabon.

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

He picks up where Anwar left off. Anwar had steered Safaricom Ethiopia into acquiring over 4 million customers, with the network covering more than 25 per cent of Ethiopia’s population and spread across 50 cities and towns.

The telco was also recently granted a license for mobile money in Ethiopia after paying investment license fees of $150 million.