Smile Telecoms appoints Ahmad Farroukh new CEO, makes Founder Deputy Chair

22 May 2019
Financial Nigeria

Summary

Farroukh will spend the majority of his executive time in Nigeria, given the extent of the opportunities and significance of the country to the company.

Ahmad Farroukh

Smile Telecoms, a Mauritius-based pan-African telecommunications group, has announced the appointment of Ahmad Farroukh as its new chief executive officer and Irene Charnley, Founder of Smile, as Deputy Chair. Their appointments are effective from June 1, 2019.

Currently, Farroukh serves as the Executive Director of Operations. Prior to joining Smile, Farroukh served as the CEO of Mobily – Saudi Arabia’s second largest telecommunications operator. He had also served in executive management positions in Investcom Holdings and MTN Group, where he served as the CEO of MTN Nigeria and MTN South Africa, and Chief Operating Executive responsible for 19 countries.

According to a statement released by Smile on Tuesday, Farroukh will spend the majority of his executive time in Nigeria, given the extent of the opportunities and significance of the country to the company.

“Africa is experiencing explosive data growth and I am honoured to have the opportunity to lead the operations of one of the continent’s best 4G LTE networks,” Farroukh said. “After over 20 years in the industry, it has also been a revelation to witness the power and versatility of Smile’s proprietary technology applications platform, which was developed in-house and provides a huge competitive and cost advantage.”

Founded in 2007, Smile has operations in Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa. In 2018, Smile was the second preferred bidder, behind Teleology Holdings, for the defunct Etisalat Nigeria (now 9mobile).

According to the statement, Charnley, who has led Smile for 12 years, pioneered Africa’s first 4G LTE network infrastructure using low band spectrum in 800 MHz band and mid band, thereby revolutionizing the way people in Africa accessed high-speed internet. Charnley will now occupy a strategic role as Deputy Chair.

“The African telecoms market is as dynamic as it challenging,” said Mohammed Sharbatly, Co-chairman of Smile and CEO of Al Nahla Group – Smile’s majority shareholder. “Ahmad is suited to lead Smile’s next exciting phase of growth, as we have transitioned from a spectrum-rich upstart to the fastest, most reliable data gigabyte factory in Sub-Saharan Africa. We are equally delighted that Irene will continue to serve the company she founded as Deputy Chair and we look forward to her ongoing strategic direction and guidance.”

According to the newly appointed Deputy Chair, the next phase of smile will “focus on delivering excellent operational returns, achieving profitability and creating value for all stakeholders.”


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