Safaricom Ethiopia revealed its first CEO Anwar Soussa will step down on 31 July, ending a two year stint during which he established the company as the country’s first private mobile operator.

In a Twitter post, the operator noted the executive will depart as a secondment from his regular role with Vodacom DRC comes to an end.

Safaricom Ethiopia is run by a consortium comprising Vodafone Group, Vodacom and Safaricom, which was awarded a licence in 2021.

Before Safaricom’s entry, state-owned Ethio Telecom was the sole operator in the nation.

Announcing the end of Soussa’s tenure, the operator praised the executive’s fundamental role in overseeing “significant milestones in a highly dynamic environment”.

Under Soussa’s leadership, the Safaricom unit also secured permission to operate m-Pesa in the market, becoming the first non-domestic investor licensed to provide mobile money services.

Prior to his role as MD of Vodacom DRC, Soussa held senior positions at Airtel’s Ugandan and Chad units, MTN and Veon.

Safaricom Ethiopia stated a successor would be announced in due course.