Wananchi Group, owner of the pay TV and fibre brand, Zuku with presence in Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and Uganda, today announced the appointment of Santiago Benedit as the new Group Chief Executive Officer following the end of the contract term of Richard Alden.
Mr. Benedit brings more than twenty years international successful experience in the telecom businesses. His career has spanned both the technology and telecommunication sectors in which he has held Chief Financial Executive positions. Prior to his appointment as Chief Executive Officer of Wananchi he was the Chief Financial Officer at Orascom Telecom Algeria -DJEZZY- (VimpelCom Group), the largest mobile operator in Algeria with USD 2.5 billion in revenues and over 17 million customers.
Prior to DJEZZY, Santiago was the Chief Financial Officer for AVANZIT/EZENTIS Group, a global technology and infrastructure Spanish listed Company with presence in more than 20 countries, where he was credited with the successful turnaround of the company across the world.
Santiago, 48 years old, is a Spanish national, holding a degree in Business Administration and Economics as well as an Executive General Management Master from the IESE Business School. He started his career with Alcatel/Lucent in Spain for whom he also worked in Bogota (Colombia) and in its headquarters in Paris. He also served as Finance Director in the Spanish mobile operator AMENA prior to its acquisition by ORANGE.
The Group is delighted to welcome Santiago, a proven leader with an excellent track record of driving business performance to lead the Company through the next stage of its development and wishes Richard Alden well in his future endeavours.
