07 September 2021

An international consortium named the Global Partnership for Ethiopia, comprising Safaricom, Vodacom Group, Vodafone Group, Sumitomo Corporation and CDC Group, has appointed Anwar Soussa as the managing director (MD) of the operating company in Ethiopia.

He currently serves as managing director of Vodacom DRC and the chairperson of Vodacash (M-PESA), Vodafone’s African mobile money service.

The special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) was formed to operate telecom services in Ethiopia and was awarded the licence to do so in May 2021.

Safaricom is the biggest shareholder in the company with a 55.7% share, followed by Sumitomo Corporation (27.2%), CDC Group (10.9%) and Vodacom (6.2%).

Effective as July 1, Soussa will report to the board of GPE as well as Safaricom’s CEO, Peter Ndegwa.

During his tenure, Soussa has cemented Vodacom DRC as the largest Vodacom operation outside of South Africa by passing US$500m in service revenue in 2020.

As MD of the GPE Soussa will lead the Ethiopian operating company on behalf of the GPE consortium.

In the role he will be responsible for executing the consortium’s vision of bringing about transformational economic and social changes in Ethiopia and to positively enhance the lives of its over 112 million population. Soussa will develop strategies and plans to ensure the delivery of quality and affordable mobile and internet connectivity for Ethiopians.

Prior to joining Vodacom, Soussa served as the chief executive officer of Airtel in Uganda and Chad. He has also worked in various senior leadership capacities at MTN and Digicel, among others.