Orange Telkom Kenya has a new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
The telco-company has appointed Vincent Lobry as the new CEO, replacing Mikael Ghossein, who has been re-deployed to the Middle East as Senior Vice President of Orange Business Services.
Lobry has 35 years’ experience in the telecommunications sector.
He rose through the ranks at the Orange Group to become Vice President (VP) commercial at Orange Spain in 1998, senior VP of Orange France for Mass Market Marketing in 2003 and senior executive VP at Orange Polska (Poland) for Strategy, Marketing, Convergence and Value Creation in 2009, a position that also saw him sit on the company’s board.
Mr. Ghossein, joined Orange Kenya Telkom in 2009 and has overseen major transformations that has led to the company post an 8pc revenue growth for overall business for the first half of 2014, compared to a similar period last year.
In 2013, the company started replacing its transport copper cables with a fibre infrastructure to improve network reliability and efficiency with an eye to market growth.
The project connected 35 counties to its countrywide network and is credited with a 34pc growth in Orange Telkom Kenya’s mobile voice and data growth in first half of 2014.
“We appreciate the strategic effort put by enabling the business to streamline its operations thereby offering products and solutions that meet the dynamic needs of the market. We are assured of a similar approach with the appointment of Vincent Lobry, even as the industry prepares for more competition,” said Chairman, Eddy Njoroge.
“We are indeed positive of the trend that the business has shown in the first half of this year and our long term investment strategy is beginning to pay off as we remain focused on its longevity,” said Mr. Ghossein.
The Kenya Government owns 30pc of the telco. Since 2012, there has been strong undercurrents within the establishment, pushing for the replacement of the company’s foreign legion of top executives with locals.
Seniour foreign executives who have since exited since July this year include Chief Finance Officer (CFO) Yvan Ridard, Chief Technical Officer (CTO), Alain Bridard, Chief of Sales and Marketing Officer Xavier Villegas and Head of Marketing Bertrand Vuillemin.
