Ian Ferrao to Head up Airtel in East Africa

Former Vodacom Tanzania MD Ian Ferrao is joining Airtel Africa as regional director of its East Africa business.

The telecommunications services provider, which operates in 14 countries across Africa, said that Ferrao will be responsible for the businesses in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and Rwanda.

"He brings a wealth of relevant telecommunications and mobile money experience within the region and will be an asset to the business. He will be part of the Africa Executive Committee based in Nairobi and will focus on driving growth across voice, data and mobile money in East Africa," said Airtel Africa's CEO Raghunath Mandava.

Airtel Africa’s new regional director of East Africa, Ian Ferrao.

Ferrao was the MD of Vodacom Tanzania between August 2015 and August 2018 when he decided to leave the company for a "mid-life career break." On his LinkedIn page Ferrao explains that the year-long break was to take time out "to reflect, refresh, rejuvenate and reconnect."

Prior to his three-year stint in Tanzania he was the MD of Vodacom Lesotho for almost three years and before that the chief commercial officer at Vodacom Business Africa.

He holds a first class Honors Degree in BSc Management Sciences from the Warwick Business School.

— Paula Gilbert, Editor, Connecting Africa