The Global Partnership for Ethiopia (GPE) has appointed Anwar Soussa as the Managing Director (MD) of the Operating Company in Ethiopia, effective 1st July, 2021. He is expected to report to the Board of the Ethiopia entity and Safaricom CEO in Ethiopia.
Anwar is currently the Managing Director of Vodacom DRC and the Chairperson of Vodacash (M-PESA). He has been the Vodacash Chairperson since 2017.
While at Vodacom, Anwar has cemented Vodacom DRC as the largest Vodacom operation outside of South Africa. He has done this by driving major strides in operational performance and crossing the Ksh. 54 billion ($500 million) in service revenue mark for the first time in 2020.
In his new role, 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.
He will formulate strategies and plans to ensure the delivery of quality and affordable mobile and internet connectivity. As a result, this will enable millions of more Ethiopians to access quality telecom services.
Prior to joining Vodacom, Anwar was the CEO of Airtel in Uganda and Chad. He has also worked in various senior leadership capacities at MTN and Digicel, among other telcos.
Anwar is a Greek national who holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the American College of Greece (Degree) and a Master’s Degree in Marketing from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada.