Globacom is poised to appoint Ahmad Farroukh, a former CEO of MTN Nigeria, as its new chief executive. This appointment signifies a major leadership transition for Nigeria’s third-largest mobile network operator and will be the first time the company experiences a change in leadership since its inception on August 29, 2003, by founder Mike Adenuga.
Although Globacom has not yet made an official announcement, it has informed the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) about the appointment, and this follows the NCC’s initiative to enhance corporate governance within the telecom industry. The company has also appointed a new board and received approval from the regulator.
Ahmad Farroukh brings a wealth of experience in the telecom industry, having started his career in 1995 as CEO of Investcom Group in Lebanon, which was later acquired by MTN Group. By 1999, he was the managing director of MTN Ghana and regional director for West Africa under Investcom, an MTN subsidiary. Farroukh served as CEO of MTN Nigeria from 2006 to 2010 and was appointed CEO of MTN South Africa in 2014.
In 2015, he became CEO of Mobily, Saudi Arabia’s second-largest telecom operator, where he served until 2017. He then joined Smile Communications Nigeria Limited as Group CEO until his recent appointment at Globacom. Farroukh holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration and Accounting from the Lebanese American University and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) from New York, USA.
As the new CEO of Globacom, Farroukh will face the significant challenge of rebuilding the network after it lost 41 million subscribers due to an industry-wide audit by the NCC. This reduction has left Globacom with 19.1 million subscribers, giving it only a 12.39% share of Nigeria’s telecom market. The official announcement of Farroukh’s appointment is expected in the coming days.
