Vodacom Loses Second Exec in a Week

Vodacom has lost its second senior executive in a week, announcing on Thursday morning that group CFO Till Streichert has resigned. The news follows the resignation of CTO Andries Delport on Tuesday.

The operator said Streichert will leave the company in June 2020 "to pursue an external opportunity outside of Vodacom." He will step down from his role on the Vodacom Group Board at around the same time or at an earlier mutually agreed date.

Vodacom CFO Till Streichert will leave the company in June 2020.

Streichert's planned exit comes as a shock after this week's resignation of Delport after 23 years at the company. Vodacom said in a statement on Tuesday morning that Delport will be leaving in May 2020 "to pursue external interests." ((See Vodacom CTO Resigns .)

TechCentral then reported that Delport will join Remgro's telecommunications business Community Investment Ventures Holdings (CIVH) as CTO, where he will drive the group's expansion strategy. CIVH owns major South African fiber players Dark Fibre Africa and Vumatel.

Group CTO Andries Delport will be leaving Vodacom in May 2020.

Streichert spent 12 years at Vodafone and almost six years with Vodacom after being seconded to Vodacom by its parent group in February 2014.

Vodacom said that during his tenure at the local company he evolved the finance team into a successful intelligence unit focused on Big Data and Artificial Intelligence. He was also recognised by CFO South Africa as 2017 CFO of the Year.

Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub said Streichert has made a valuable contribution to the Vodacom board and as a member of the executive committee.

"In addition to leading a repositioning of the finance function as a centre of excellence, Till led the IPO in Tanzania and played pivotal roles in the acquisition of a strategic stake in Safaricom and the completion of the largest ever BEE transaction in the South African Telco industry. Till has extensive experience in the industry and will be a significant loss to our sector. I wish him well with his decision as he embarks on a new chapter of his career," Joosub added.

Streichert said the decision to resign was not taken lightly.

"I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in South Africa and dealing with a number of challenging situations across the various Vodacom operations in Africa. A personal highlight includes the many great moments from the manner in which we have transformed Vodacom from a telco into a technology company with a strong purpose of connecting and improving people’s lives.

"As I am only leaving around June next year, my first priority is to make sure that it is business as usual for the finance function while at the same time ensuring there is a seamless transition to the next CFO," he added.

Vodacom said Streichert's successor will be announced in due course.

— Paula Gilbert, Editor, Connecting Africa