Bharti Airtel, owners of Zain Africa have announced the appointment of Mr. Ebenezer Albertyn, former Chief Technical Officer (CTO) of MTN Ghana, as the new CTO for Zain Africa region.
Albertyn is the second top management staff that Bharti Airtel has poached from MTN Ghana in three months; the first was MTN’s Chief Marketing Officer, George Kwadwo Andah.
He left MTN Ghana barely a week after George left, but it was not clear then where he was moving to.
MTN Ghana has always credited Mr. Albertyn with much of their network success in Ghana, whiles George and his marketing whizz-kids have also been lauded for the aggressive marketing and branding success of MTN Ghana.
Mr. Eben Albertyn, an engineer by training, brings to Airtel a deep understanding of the dynamics of the African telecommunications sector, having worked with a leading pan-African operator, MTN across the continent.
Mr. Albertyn will be charged with instituting and maintaining a robust network enhancement plan in line with the next evolution in network systems.
Airtel also announced the appointment of Ms. Tay Kim Lee as Director of Internal Assurance for the 16 African operations, including Ghana.
Ms. Lee has a wealth of experience in the financial and telecommunications sector with organizations such as PriceWaterhouse Coopers (PwC) and Singapore International Group (SingTel), a strategic partner of Bharti Airtel.
As Internal Assurance Director Ms. Lee will play an important role in enhancing the control environment and corporate governance processes whilst identifying opportunities and implementing action plans to ensure efficiency of services.
A statement quoted Mr. Manoj Kohli, CEO (International) and Joint Managing Director, Bharti Airtel, as saying Airtel’s intention to provide affordable and innovative mobile solutions in Africa will be backed by the passion and wealth of experience from the leadership team they are attracting and nurturing.
He said the appointments are a testament of Airtel’s commitment towards the goal of providing unrivalled telecommunications services and building a world class organization in Africa.
“The two new leaders, Kim and Eben, will definitely add impetus to our leadership team, having gained high level global experience in diverse markets in Asia and Africa.
“Their expertise will also tap into existing talent and create the skills within their teams, which all successful brands require,” Kohil said.
Bharti Airtel has operations in Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
By Samuel Dowuona