Airtel has appointed Lucy Quist as its new Managing Director.
Her appointment takes effect from the end of next month.
Lucy Quist becomes the first Ghanaian woman and the second woman in the history of the country to be appointed to head a telecommunications company.
The first woman to be appointed was Roshi Motman a Swedish and MD for Tigo Ghana.
Lucy Quist is joining Airtel Ghana from Vodafone Ghana where she has been the Director for the Enterprise Business Unit.
Lucy Quist will be taking over from Philip Sowah who has occupied that position for many years.
It’s unclear exactly where Philip Sowah will be heading to but Citi Business News has gathered he will be pursuing interests outside the company.
Airtel has however requested that Philip Sowah continues to play a governance role in its Ghana CSR Foundation.
Industry players say Lucy Quist’s technical and business acumen, industry experience and in country perspective will play a pivotal role in driving the next phase of the company’s journey outside the traditional consumer arena.
Her strong experience in the telecommunications industry in Ghana and across Africa is also expected to aid her in her new role.
She joins Airtel at a time when the telecom company is making massive inroads in the industry.
In February alone Airtel recorded the second largest number of additions in its voice subscriber base.
Its subscriber base increased by about 29,000 which represents about 0.8 percent growth of its subscriber base.
According to figures released by the National Communications Authority (NCA) at the end of February this year Airtel’s number of subscribers hit about 3.5 million representing 12.4percent of the market.
Lucy Quist joined Vodafone Ghana in 2011 as Head of Strategy & Planning and Managing Director of Vodafone’s Wholesale Business.
In 2008, Lucy joined Millicom International Cellular (Tigo), as Head of Business Development for Africa and as Head of Northern Sector in Ghana before becoming the Chief Marketing Officer in the DRC.
Ms. Quist started her career in 1994 in automotive engineering with Ford Motor Company, working her way through design engineering, manufacturing and project management roles in the UK, Germany and Portugal.
She later became a Change Manager at the Royal Bank of Scotland in London as part of the RBS-ABN AMRO Operations merger team.
Lucy is a Chartered Electrical and Electronics Engineer, holds a first class Bachelor of Engineering degree and an MBA from INSEAD.
The CEO for Airtel Africa Mr. Christian de Faria said “Lucy will be taking over from Philip Sowah who will be leaving Airtel at the end of May to pursue interests outside the company. We have requested that he continues to play a governance role in our Ghana CSR Foundation. Please join me in welcoming Lucy on board and in wishing her success. I would like to thank Philip for his leadership and contribution to our growth in Ghana. I greatly appreciate his engaging approach which has placed us favourably with all our stakeholders, especially amongst the communities where we do business. We wish him every success for the future”As Managing Director for Airtel’s business in Ghana, Ms. Quist’s technical and business acumen, industry experience and in country perspective will play a pivotal role in driving the next phase of the company’s journey outside the traditional consumer arena.
By: Vivian Kai Mensah/citifmonline.com/Ghana