As part of its sweeping changes to its global management structure, India’s Bharti Airtel has announced the appointment of Mr. Christian de Faria as the company’s new CEO for Africa. He is also the managing director with overall responsibility of the firm’s operations in 17 African markets including Nigeria.
Other African nations under his control are Kenya, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Zambia, Uganda, Malawi, DRC, Rwanda, Niger, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Chad, Congo, Madagascar and Seychelles.
Prior to his latest appointment, had worked with MTN South Africa where he was appointed the network’s chief commercial officer between June 2011 and January 2013 before moving to Airtel Africa.
With the new appointment, Manoj Kohli, Bharti’s International MD and CEO is now the MD of Bharti Enterprise. He will lead the oversight of the group’s non-telecom businesses in retail, insurance, food and agricultural services as well as realty.
Kohli will also be responsible for business development, corporate and shareholder relations on a group wide basis. He will also serve on various Bharti boards including Airtel and be the chairman of Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) BV, that owns Airtel’s African operations.
Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman, Bharti Enterprises, said in a media release: “The new structure reflects the next phase of Bharti’s growth journey, which will be led by best-in-class professionals in various segments. Bharti has always championed the empowerment of its people and set high standards of corporate governance. This is another step towards transforming the group from entrepreneur-led professional-backed to a professional-led entrepreneur-backed one. I wish my very best to the chosen leaders in their respective new roles.”