Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub
Photo by: Creamer Media
With an ever expanding African portfolio, telecommunications giant Vodacom Group has simplified its structure, forming a standalone Vodacom South Africa unit to be led by Balesh Sharma as its new MD.
Vodacom Group has been accelerating its growth ambitions on the continent, and to ensure the group plays a central role of overseeing all operations across its African footprint, this has necessitated the creation of a standalone South African operating company, said Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub.
This followed the group’s assuming management responsibility of Vodafone Ghana from April 1 and the subsequent conclusion of a joint venture with Safaricom to accelerate the expansion of M-Pesa, having acquired the brand, product development and support services from Vodafone.
Vodacom and Safaricom, in which Vodacom holds a strategic stake, have also expressed interest in bidding for an Ethiopian telecommunications licence as part of a consortium.
“The stellar financial performance of our International portfolio, combined with the added responsibility of managing Vodafone Ghana and accelerating the growth of financial and digital services, means that we needed to put the right structure in place to deliver on our ambition of becoming a leading pan African technology company,” Joosub explained.
The new structure will also place heightened emphasis on its international portfolio and new growth areas to ensure the continued diversification of revenue streams.
Sharma, who will report directly to Joosub, will join the reconstituted Vodacom Group executive committee (Exco) with effect from July 1.
Sharma, currently Vodafone Group special projects director, 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.
Further, Beverly Ngwenya and Sitho Mdlalose will join the new Vodacom South Africa exco as technology director and financial director respectively, effective July 1.