Safaricom poaches MTN exec for Ethiopia CEO role

Details: Manny Pham; Category: Operators; 29 June 2023; 7565 views

Safaricom hired MTN executive Wim Vanhelleputte (pictured) as CEO of Safaricom Ethiopia, who will be taking the helm from September 1, and replacing outgoing chief Anwar Soussa.

Vanhelleputte had worked in multiple markets in sub-Saharan Africa for over 25 years with his most recent role being with MTN as an operations executive since August 2022, where he oversaw the performance and governance of four operating companies in West and Central Africa.

Prior to this role, he served as chief executive of MTN Uganda since 2016 and was boss of MTN Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) between 2009 to 2015. He joined Airtel for a year as regional director of Francophone Africa, then as Cluster CEO for Airtel DRC and Congo, between 2015 to 2016.

The executive also had other senior roles in telecommunication companies including CEO of Sentel GSM in Senegal, managing director TchadMobile in Chad, and General Manager at Telcel Gabon.

Outgoing boss Soussa will depart his role on July 31 after taking the job almost two years ago. Soussa set the groundwork for Safaricom’s newest market and achieved four million customers since launch.

Replacing Vanhelleputte at MTN as operations executive will be Stephen Blewett who joins from Digicel where he was group chief operating officer, based in Jamaica.

Blewett will be responsible for the WECA markets of Liberia, Guinea Conakry, Guinea Bissau and Congo Brazzaville, and provide general operations support across the same region, reporting directly to markets SVP Ebenezer Twum Asante.

The new MTN executive had served MTN prior, including as CEO of MTN Cameroon where he was credited for its success and growth. He also headed up MTN Benin and was CCO of MTC Namibia.