Vodacom South Africa MD Balesh Sharma is stepping down from his role, effective June 30, to pursue an external opportunity in Europe.

Sharma was appointed as MD in September 2020 to establish a new standalone Vodacom South Africa entity.

He joined the Vodafone Group in India in March 2003, where he held various senior leadership roles before moving to international assignments as Vodafone Malta CEO and then Vodafone Czech Republic CEO, driving successful turnarounds in both roles.

In his capacity as the founding CEO of Vodafone Idea, Sharma managed the integration of Vodafone and Idea, delivering substantial synergies within the first-year post merger, and successfully completing a rights issue of $3.5-billion for the merged entity.

“This is the end of a momentous chapter in my career and I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to my Vodafone and Vodacom families for the extraordinary opportunities afforded to me over the last twenty years. It has been wonderful to be part of a purpose-led organisation which has allowed me to work all over the world and to forge friendships with so many diverse communities and people,” said Sharma, who is an alumni of the Harvard Business School and Mayo College, and holds a degree in mechanical engineering from Engineering College, Kota and an MBA from Podar Institute of Management in Jaipur, India.

“I would like to offer my deepest gratitude to Balesh for his invaluable contribution in the establishment of Vodacom South Africa. During this time, he led the improvements in market share, net promoter scores, network, churn improvement, TOBI, Vodacom Business performance and also drove the winning back of data market share,” said Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub.

“Balesh was a strong support for various critical Vodacom projects such as the recent spectrum auction, which saw Vodacom successfully acquire a total of 110 MHz high demand spectrum. We wish Balesh the very best for the next chapter of his career and will announce his successor in due course.”