Bharti Airtel has announced the appointment of three key business leaders in The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Niger. The leadership roles, according to the company, will become effective as of October 1, 2014.
According to Airtel Africa, Djibril Ouattara has been appointed the new Managing Director for Airtel Niger to bolster the company’s strategic leadership in the operating country. Ouattara joins Airtel from Atlantique Telecom Togo where he has been the Managing Director since March 2009. He is an experienced industry professional having worked for the Atlantique Telecom Group since August 2005 in various capacities; first as Business Development Manager in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire till August 2006. He then took up the roles of Chief Technical Officer and Deputy Managing Director for Cote D’Ivoire between 2006 and 2009, until his appointment as Managing Director at the company.
Airtel Africa has also appointed Alain Kahasha as Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Airtel DRC to support the overall strategic and operational responsibility of the operation’s activities. Mr. Kahasha has been the Managing Director for Airtel Niger since July 2010. He has worked at Airtel since 2006, having started as Sales and Distribution Director in Zain Gabon, until June 2008. Before joining Airtel, Mr. Kahasha worked in various commercial roles at the Coca-Cola Company, British American Tobacco (BAT) and Vodacom in the DRC.
To further support the company’s growth agenda in the DRC, Airtel Africa appointed Ismael Nacoulma as the Chief Sales Officer. Until his appointment, Nacoulma has been a regional Head of Marketing Execution and had earlier played various roles of increasing seniority in Airtel.
Speaking on the appointments, Airtel Africa CEO Christian de Faria said “These appointments underline Airtel’s intention to capture the growth potential in these key markets. We believe that these professionals will help support the evolution of our business in the DRC and Niger in line with our overall strategic objectives.”
