Bharti Airtel, on Monday announced the appointment of Wim Vanhelleputte as the new Executive Director for one of its key business region in Africa.

Wim Vanhelleputte will be responsible for the Strategic Business Unit with the following country Portfolio;  Gabon, Congo B, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Madagascar and the Seychelles.

Making the announcement, Airtel Africa’s Chief Executive Officer, Christian de Faria, said that Wim Vanhelleputte’s appointment seeks to accelerate Airtel’s market leadership opportunities and develop the team capabilities across the cluster.

“Vanhelleputte has distinguished himself with his exceptional understanding of the African telecoms landscape. I believe he will use his experience, leadership and understanding of the African market to accelerate our market leadership opportunities and develop the team capabilities as we seek to take our brand to the next level. Wim takes over from Mr. Somasekhar VG, who is leaving us after valuable contribution to the company.” said Christian de Faria, CEo – Airtel Africa..

Wim Vanhelleputte joins Bharti Airtel from MTN where he was the Chief Executive Officer for MTN Ivory Coast, where he transformed the company from a GSM only operator into the number one fully integrated telecom player in the country.

Bharti Airtel recently became the third largest mobile operator in the world in terms of subscribers. As per the latest data published by WCIS, Airtel with over 303 million mobile subscribers across its operations, it has moved up one position in the global rankings. In Africa, Bharti Airtel is the largest mobile operator on the Continent in terms of geographical footprint.  It offers 2G, 3G services and Airtel Money across all 17 countries in Africa. Airtel Money is one of the largest and fastest growing m-commerce services on the continent; and with data adoption leading the growth on the continent, Airtel is well positioned to leverage the opportunities.