Anwar Soussa to Lead GPE’s Operating Company in Ethiopia

The Global Partnership for Ethiopia (GPE) has today appointed Anwar Soussa as the Managing Director (MD) of its Operating Company in Ethiopia, effective 1st July 2021. He will report to the Board of the Ethiopia entity and the Safaricom PLC CEO.  Anwar is currently the Managing Director of Vodacom DRC and the Chairperson of Vodacash (M-PESA), a position he has held since 2017.

He has cemented Vodacom DRC as the largest Vodacom operation outside of South Africa by driving operational performance, crossing the US$500m in service revenue mark for the first time in 2020. Anwar will lead the Ethiopian Operating Company on behalf of the Global Partnership for Ethiopia Consortium. He will be responsible for the execution of the consortium’s goal to bring about transformational economic and social impact in Ethiopia and positively enhance the lives of its over 112 million people.

“We are delighted to appoint Anwar as Managing Director of our Ethiopian Operating Company and we are confident that he has the right experience and expertise from his time with Vodacom DRC to build a world class telecommunications network in Ethiopia.  Our immediate priority in Anwar’s appointment is to ensure that the Vodacom Group has the strongest team in place to lead our efforts to connect the next 100 million Africans by 2025, through the delivery of reliable network coverage and transformative technology services. Anwar’s successor in the DRC will be announced in due course.”

Shameel Joosub, Chief Executive Officer, Vodacom Group

“I am delighted to have accepted this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to lead the Global Partnership for Ethiopia’s Operating Company, which was created to bring about transformational economic and social impact in Ethiopia. The team which we are building in Ethiopia has rich and diverse experience accumulated through talent from the various operating markets of our Consortium partners Vodafone, Vodacom, Safaricom, Sumitomo, and CDC Group. We are fully focused on delivering on our mandate to digitalise all regions of this exciting country.”

Anwar Soussa, Managing Director, Vodacom DRC

Prior to joining Vodacom, Anwar served as the Chief Executive Officer of Airtel in Uganda and Chad. Anwar is a Greek national who holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the American College of Greece (Deree) and a master’s degree in Marketing from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada.