Bharti Airtel has appointed Olusegun Ogunsanya as the managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of its Africa unit. Ogunsanya will succeed Raghunath Mandava who will retire from his post and as director of Airtel Africa PLC’s board on September 30, 2021.
Ogunsanya will take charge on October 1, 2021 and will join Airtel Africa’s board on the same day. He joined the company in 2012 as the MD and CEO of Nigeria, which is the operator’s largest market in Africa. He has more than 25 years of experience in business management across banking, consumer goods and telecom sectors.
Before Airtel Africa, Ogunsanya has held senior managerial roles at Coca-Cola in Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya. He was the MD of Nigerian Bottling Company Limited owned by Coca-Cola Hellenic, and was the group head of retail banking operations at Ecobank Transnational Inc., where he oversaw 28 countries in Africa.
Commenting on the appointment, Sunil Mittal, chairperson, Bharti Enterprises, said “We are delighted to appoint 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.”
Further, Bharti Airtel has also announced the appointment of Jaideep Paul, who is currently the chief financial officer of its Africa unit, as an executive director on the company’s board, effective June 1, 2021.
