Airtel’s MD Lucy Quist Resigns Ahead of Tigo Merger

Citi Business News can confirm that the Managing Director of Airtel, Ms Lucy Quist has resigned.

It unclear where Ms Quist, who has been at the helm of affairs since 2014, will be heading to.

There were earlier reports that Tigo’s current MD, Ms. Roshi Motman, is likely to be named as the MD of the new entity to be created following the merger of Airtel and Tigo.

The National Communications Authority (NCA),  early last week announced it had given approval for the merger between Airtel and Tigo to proceed with the merger subject to some conditions.

A statement from the NCA and copied to Citi Business News indicated that, the merger will result in an entity which will be the second largest mobile network operator in the country.

The merger, which was first announced in March this year, required the regulator to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the application and the regulatory ecosystem.

The latest development brings to an end months of speculation about her role as CEO of Airtel Ghana, once the planned merger between the company and Tigo Ghana are concluded.

A short note to her followers on her Facebook page @lucyquistofficial, and her website www.lucyquist.com confirmed her planned exit.

Portions of her note read “ After almost three and a half year of leading the amazing team at Airtel Ghana, the time is right for me to move on to the next chapter. It has been a truly remarkable journey and I thank each and everyone of you for your support, encouragement and business partnership over the course of my stewardship. We are proud of our achievements. Particularly, I want to thank all those who have been part of the many initiatives I have led over the last few years to empower young people and every young person who works with me for that matter. Notably the Evolve with STEM and the Bold New Normal initiatives. I look forward to empowering more young people even as I continue my professional journey. Together we will create the Bold New Normal of prosperity for our country and continent”.

Lucy Quist’s period at Airtel Ghana

Lucy Quist joined Airtel Ghana in 2014 as the first Ghanaian female CEO of a major multinational telecom company.

During her tenure, she successfully led her team to re-position and transform Airtel Ghana into one of the fastest growing telecom companies in the country, as well as the industry leader in data and digital innovation, and the most loved telecom brand in the daily lives of Ghanaians.

She is credited with leading the launch of breakthrough initiatives for Airtel Ghana, including the introduction of bespoke sub brands and value propositions for customers – such as  Airtel Premier, the telecom industry’s first ever sub brand that provides telecom and lifestyle solutions for High Value customers.

She also led the creation of Airtel’s Data Business – building a specific sub brand to grow the data side of the business – resulting in a significant growth in customer and revenue market share for data.

Airtel’s Data Business became the conduit for digital inclusion, and some of the most remarkable innovations in the data and internet service provider space within the Ghanaian telecom industry.

Personal achievements

Mrs. Quist has been recognized by several reputable organisations– Corporate Leadership Award (Ghana Legacy Honours 2017), Telecom CEO of the Year (Ghana ICT and Telecoms Award 2016), CSR CEO of the year (Ghana CSR Excellence Awards 2016) and CIMG Marketing Woman of the year (2014).

She is on the Board of many distinguished local and international organisations including the International Board for African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), Petra Trust Company Ltd, the Business Environment Enabling Programme under the UK Department of International Development (DFID), the Climate Innovation Center Ghana and The Exploratory among others.

She is a founding member of the Executive Women Network, a non-profit organization of women in senior management and executive positions committed to inspiring, empowering and supporting women executives to succeed and become influential both locally and internationally.

Source: Citibusinessnews