Airtel Africa has appointed Mr. Tom Gutjahr as the new Managing Director for Uganda with effect from August 1st 2014 in a move to drive the company’s strategic leadership and build the firm’s growing brand and as well expand the company’s 3G footprint.
Gutjahr replaces Arindam Chakrabarty who has been the firm’s acting as Managing Director for Uganda following the promotion of Mr. VG Somasekhar, the previous MD in Uganda within the Airtel business in Africa to look after a portfolio of 8 countries.
In a statement, Airtel Africa CEO Mr. Christian de Faria said: “This appointment underlines Airtel’s commitment to significantly improve access to telecoms services, connecting millions of consumers to the internet in Africa. In Mr. Gutjahr, I am confident that Airtel will continue to enhance the benefits of telecommunications services for the communities in Uganda. I want to warmly welcome him to the Airtel family.”
Before the appointment, Mr. Gutjahr was Chief Executive Officer in Tigo Paraguay (Millicom International Cellular), the biggest operation in the Millicom Group. Prior to that, he had a stint as CEO for the Tigo operation in Rwanda in 2011; and CEO for Tigo in Chad between 2008 and 2010.
Mr. Gutjahr is also expected to provide further access to mobile commerce services, whilst providing winning customer service support. Airtel Uganda’s competitors include MTN, UTL and Orange. Airtel bought Warid in April last year to consolidate its hold on the market.