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Kenya: Press Releases: Bharti Airtel Appoint Michael Okwiri Africa Head of Corporate Communications |
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Monday, 02 August 2010 |
New Delhi/Nairobi, 30 July 2010 --- Bharti Airtel, a leading emerging market telecom services provider, today announced the appointment of Michael Okwiri to head the Corporate Communications docket for Africa. In the statement, Bharti Airtel CEO Manoj Kohli said Mr. Okwiri will be responsible for building and sustaining positive corporate reputation for Airtel Africa. He said the appointment was in line with Airtel’s business strategy of tapping into the diversity of Africa’s world-class talent pool.
Until his appointment, Mr. Okwiri was the Corporate Communications Director at Zain Kenya. He has over 15 years experience in corporate communications, having served in a similar capacity at Kenya Airways when the Airline was voted African Airline of the Year in 2005 and the Most Respected Company in East Africa for two years running. Prior to joining Kenya Airways, Mr. Okwiri also worked for the Kenya Commercial Bank and Coca Cola. He will be based at the Airtel Africa Headquarters in Nairobi.
“Mr. Okwiri’s experience and invaluable knowledge of the African markets will be a great asset to the Airtel team as we embark on the journey of making Airtel the most loved brand in the daily lives of African people. We are going to entrust the responsibility of running the business to African professionals,” he said.
The statement also announced the appointment of Mr. Fayaz King, formerly the MD of Zain Malawi, as the Managing Director for Zambia. Mr. King is a holder of holds a Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Business Studies (Honors) degrees from the University of Zimbabwe as well a Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing, United Kingdom. During his tenure as Managing Director, Zain Malawi was awarded “OPCO of the Year 2008” as well as “Initiative of the Year” for launching the Quick Refill Centers (QRC) concept. Mr. King started his career in Telecommunications as Marketing Director in Zain Uganda in May 2006 before moving to Nigeria as General Manager, Lagos Mainland and later General Manager, North Central. He was also awarded the All African Students Union (AASU) Platinum Award as “Africa’s Outstanding Communications Administrator 2007”.
Also going up the corporate ladder is Mr. Saulos Chilima who has been appointed as the Managing Director for Malawi. Mr. Chilima formerly served as the Sales and Distribution Director and has been on the Zain Malawi Board for the last one year. He holds a Master of Economics Degree and is currently studying for a Diploma in Financial Management with the ACCA. He started his career in Telecommunications as Sales Director, Zain Malawi in September 2006. Prior to joining Zain, Saulos was at Unilever, Malawi and Southern Bottlers Limited (Coca Cola and Carlsberg bottler). He also has four years experience in Leasing, having worked for the Leasing and Finance Company in Malawi.
The company recently acquired the mobile services operations of Zain in 15 countries across Africa and is working towards introducing its brand ‘Airtel’ in these markets shortly.
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