General Electric has announced that President & CEO GE Africa, Jay Ireland will retire from the company effective September 30, 2018, after 38 years of service. Farid Fezoua, President & CEO, GE Healthcare Africa has been named President and CEO, GE Africa in addition to his role in GE Healthcare. This appointment is effective October I, 2018.
“The past 7 years in Sub-Saharan Africa have been the most rewarding of my 38 years in GE. The opportunities across many sectors, the optimism, the energy and entrepreneurial nature of the people have all contributed to a wonderful experience…. I want to thank all 2600 employees in the region for their support and commitment to making GE a valued partner for the development of infrastructure in Africa.” Jay Ireland said.
Over the course of his career, Ireland held several leadership positions in GE. He led GE Asset Management (GEAM), a global investment firm with about US$120 billion in assets under management at the time. He was President of NBC Universal Television Stations and Network Operations where he had overall executive responsibility for NBC Universal’s 10 television stations, the Telemundo network and its 16 Spanish language television stations. Before joining NBC in 1999, he had been the CFO of GE Plastics. Ireland started his career with General Electric in 1980 in its Financial Management Program after 3 years as a US Army Officer.
Ireland plays a significant external role advocating for investment in Africa. He is the Chair of the US President’s Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa. He is also Co-Chair of the US Africa Business Centre – launched in 2015 to lead the U.S. business community’s engagement with Africa’s regional economic communities, the private sector, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Ireland was a member of the African Development Bank’s special panel on accelerating the implementation of its ten-year strategy. He was a recipient of the Africa investor Magazine’s ‘International Business Leader of the Year’ award in 2012 and 2013 and in October 2017.
Farid Fezoua
With a career spanning almost 28 years, Farid Fezoua has been leading GE Healthcare’s business growth in Africa since 2012.
Farid joined GE in 2003 to lead customer financing efforts for GE Healthcare’s Middle East, Africa and Turkey Region. In 2005, he was appointed Regional Executive for GE Capital Markets Corporate, leading customer and project finance for all GE businesses in the Middle East and Africa.
Prior to joining GE, he held several senior positions in international banks including BCEN-Eurobank, Paris (subsidiary of the Russian foreign trade Bank). He has previously served as Deputy Head of Commodity and Trade Finance at B.A.I.I. (Banque Arabe et Internationale d’Investissement, a subsidiary of BNP specialized in trade and investment in the MENA region). He was also the Assistant General Manager & Head of Correspondent Banking and Trade Finance at the Arab Banking Corporation, Paris Branch.
