Safaricom Ethiopia is a subsidiary of Safaricom PLC, a leading telecommunications company in Kenya. In 2019, Safaricom was awarded a license to operate in Ethiopia, which is the second most populous country in Africa with over 100 million people.
The Ethiopian telecommunications market is one of the largest untapped markets in the world, with a potential for significant growth.
As of early 2023, Safaricom Ethiopia is still in its early stages of operation, having officially launched in December 2021. The company’s senior management team is tasked with overseeing the day-to-day operations of the business and charting its strategic direction.
This article would provide insights into the individuals leading this new venture and the experience and expertise they bring to the table.
The senior management team is responsible for the daily running of the company and ensuring that we are working towards achieving set goals. The team is led by the managing director and is made up of chief officers responsible for different functions.
Anwar Soussa – Managing Director
Anwat Soussa has a wealthof international cross-functional experience in the telecommunications industry with special focus on emerging markets.
In his role asthe Managing Director of Vodacom DRC and the Chairperson of Vodacash (M-PESA) since 2017, Anwar has cemented Vodacom DRC as the largest Vodacom operation outside of South Africa by driving major strides in operational performance, crossing the $500M USD in service revenue mark for the first time in 2020.
Prior to joining Vodacom, Anwar served as the Chief Executive Officer 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 (Deree) and a master’s degree in Marketing from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada.
Masahiro Miyash*ta – Chief Strategy Officer
Miyash*ta, a Japanese national, has vast experience in telecommunication having worked for Sumitomo Corporation for over 30 years as the General Manager of the Smart Communication Platform Business Division.
He also sits on the board of multiple telecom companies in various countries such as Myanmar, Guam (USA), Uzbekistan, Russia, China and Japan to supervise management and strategy.
James Maitai – Chief Technology Officer
James Maitai joined Safaricom Ethiopia from Safaricom PLC, where his career spanned 16 years, with over 22 years’ experience within the technology sector.
As the Chief Technology Officer, James is responsible for the end-to-end performance of Safaricom Ethiopia’s network and all IT systems.
He joined Safaricom as a Principal Planning and Optimization Engineer in 2006, and has grown through the technology ranks, in the process developing a deep understanding of the Spirit of Safaricom.
He possesses strong leadership skills as well as commercial and customer experience acumen, having also served as a Head of Regional Sales and Operations between 2015 and 2019.
Over the course of his career, James has earned industry distinction, and under his leadership, Safaricom PLC’s network was voted the best within Vodafone markets in areas such as availability, stability, reduction of major network incidents, and NPS.
He has also led transformation on fixed technology infrastructure, encompassing fiber and home, and overseen technology evolution, including the ‘4G everywhere’ strategy, and 5G rollout.
James holds a B.Sc. in Electrical & Electronics Engineering from the University of Nairobi, an MBA from JKUAT, as well as several industry certifications.
Charles Wanjohi – Chief Consumer Business Officer
Charles Wanjohi has over 19 years commercial experience gained working for Multinationals focused on Sub-Saharan Africa, he carries a broad international perspective having worked in Kenya, South Africa, Bahrain, and experience working with 17 geographies across Sub Saharan Africa.
He has a telco career spanning more than 15 years across Celtel Kenya, Zain Kenya, Zain Group, Airtel Africa, Airtel Kenya and Safaricom, where he was the Director of Consumer Business.
Charles has a bachelor’s degree in Commerce, is a Certified Public Accountant and is an alumnus of the Vodafone Inspire Leadership program.
Julie Arndt – Chief Legal and Risk Officer
Julie was the head of Legal Compliance Reviews and ISO Audit Assurance functions within the Vodacom Group Risk and Compliance team.
She has over 20 years’ experience in the telecommunications industry within senior leadership, ranging from employment and legal compliance to overall organisation legislation compliance and audits, money laundering, and financial crime management.
Julie joined Vodacom in 2006 and has held various roles across the organisation including in group compliance, legal and human resources.
She completed her BA LLB degree at the University of KZN and her LLM degree at the University of South Africa.Julie is also a Certified Quality Auditor with the American Society for Quality and a certified coach with the NeuroLeadership Institute.
Chris Lazarus – Chief Enterprise Business Officer
Chris has been part of Vodacom South Africa since 2005 as the Managing Executive for KwaZulu Natal Region, where he held various roles within the Consumer and Enterprise Business Units.
He has over two decades of experience in the Information and Communications Technology and Financial Services sectors.
Chris has an MBA from Henley Business School (UK), Advanced Executive Programme with the University of South Africa and Telecoms Certification from the North-West University (South Africa).
Paul Kavavu – Chief Financial Services Officer
Paul was the Head of M-PESA new Business Ventures at Safaricom.
He has 19 years of progressive experience in mobile money innovation, strategy formulation and execution, performance change management and negotiation across financial services, telecom, and banking industries.
He joined Safaricom in 2002 from Absa Bank, formerly Barclays Bank of Kenya.
Paul holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from the University of Nairobi, is a Certified Public Accountant of Kenya, CPA (K) and Certified Oxford Fintech Program alumni.
Andarge Kabtimer – Chief Sales and Distribution Officer
Andarge has over 20 years’ experience in various sectors in Ethiopia including FMCG, oil & gas and financial institutions having worked with the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, Shell, and Diageo in different senior roles.
He was the Commercial Operations and Sales Transformation Manager at Diageo – Meta Abo Brewery and a member of the Company’s Leadership Team.
Andarge holds a Degree in Accounting from Addis Ababa University and master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) from Indra Ghandi National Open University, India.
Stanley Njoroge – Chief Finance Officer
Stanley was the Finance & Strategy Director and a member of the Board at Guinness Nigeria PLC. He has been in Diageo for over 13 years where he held various senior roles in Africa, Europe, and Asia.
Prior to joining Diageo, Stanley spent eight years in Deloitte in tax consultancy in Kenya and Ethiopia and has also worked at Barcelona Bank Kenya as Head of Business Performance Analytics & Tax.
He is a graduate of University of Nairobi and a qualified accountant.
Mokaya Mokaya – Chief Human Resource Officer
Mokaya was the Head HR Business Partner for the Customer Organisation at Safaricom, he has over 16 years progressive experience in Talent Management, Capability Development, Organizational Effectiveness, Change Management and HR Business Partnership.
He joined Safaricom in 2007 in the HR function where he worked in different roles, including a 2-year stint in Vodafone India as the head of Organizational Effectiveness & Change.
Mokaya holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Nairobi. He is a member of the Institute of Human Resource management and an International Coaching Federation (ICF) certified coach.
Koichi Kawase – Director, Project Management Officer
Koichi has spent close to 30 years in Sumitomo Corporation taking on increasingly larger and varied management roles, from Chief Strategy Officer to Chief Executive Officer and Chief Commercial Officer in the largesttelecommunication operators in Mongolia and Myanmar, both affiliated companies of Sumitomo.
He has also led Digital and Fintech investment projects in Malaysia and Myanmar, and in his most recent assignment, was Board member of the largest mobile distributor in Japan, and Executive Vice President and Board member of a device lifecycle management start-up company.
