Globacom will name former MTN Nigeria chief Ahmad Farroukh as CEO

Globacom will appoint Ahmad Farroukh, a former CEO of MTN Nigeria, as its new chief executive, three people with direct knowledge of the matter told TechCabal. It’s a major leadership shift for Nigeria’s third-largest mobile network operator and will mark the first time it will come under new leadership. Mike Adenuga has led Globacom since its launch on August 29, 2003.

While Globacom has not yet made an official announcement, it has notified the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), two people familiar with the matter said. The company has also appointed a new board and has gotten approval from the regulator.

Globacom did not immediately respond to multiple requests for comments.

Farroukh’s extensive telecom career began in 1995 as CEO of Investcom Group in Lebanon, later acquired by MTN Group. By 1999, he was managing director of MTN Ghana and regional director for West Africa under Investcom, an MTN subsidiary. He then served as CEO of MTN Nigeria from 2006 to 2010 and was appointed CEO of MTN South Africa in 2014. In 2015, he became CEO of Mobily, Saudi Arabia’s second-largest telecom operator, where he served until 2017. He then joined Smile Communications Nigeria Limited as Group CEO until his Globacom appointment.

Farroukh holds a Master’s in Business Administration and Accounting from the Lebanese American University and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) from New York, USA.

As CEO of Globacom, Farroukh faces a significant challenge after the network lost 41 million subscribers due to an industry-wide audit by the NCC. This reduction has left Globacom with 19.1 million subscribers, giving it only a 12.39% share of Nigeria’s telecom market. Farroukh’s announcement is expected in a matter of days.