Wim Vanhelleputte, who is tapped to assume the CEO role at Safaricom’s Ethiopia unit, has the reputation of a salvage manager who has knack for turning around ailing business operations. People who have previously worked with Wim, as he is popularly known, variously describe him as “super manager,” and “the man you need” if you have anything that is broken and needs fixing.
Read: Rising costs from Ethiopia foray eat into Safaricom profits
Wim was fished from MTN for whom he has been overseeing a cluster of three markets in West Africa.
An engineer, Wim is said to be a result-oriented manager who is good at cost analysis, network optimisation and organisational restructuring.
He led MTN Uganda’s transition from a voice only network to a data network with multiple market offerings. Where competitors focused on undercutting via pricing, Wim went for a value proposition that not only prevented erosion of revenue but also stimulated new growth in subscriber numbers and spending.
He led the reconfiguration of the network, increasing spatial coverage and presided over the divestiture from most of the company’s 3,000 towers, retaining only a minimal stake.
That helped remove a key cost driver from the telco’s balance sheet.
Secondment
It was after delivering at MTN Uganda where, over six-years, he nearly doubled the subscriber base from 8.5 million to 16 million subscribers and grew revenues by 75 percent that he was seconded to lead MTN’s operations in four markets in West and Central Africa, which were performing marginally.
The secondment followed a dramatic couple of months during which he got caught up in the Uganda-Rwanda political falling-out. He was even briefly deported before authorities realised; he held Uganda citizenship.
“If anyone can take Safaricom’s Ethiopian operation anywhere close to its full potential, I would say that person is Wim,” said an industry executive who has previously worked with him.
His immediate task in Ethiopia will be to better Anwar Soussa’s four million subscribers garnered over two years and expanding network reach beyond the present 25 percent of Ethiopia’s population.
Read: Safaricom Ethiopia CEO to step down after two years stint
Shareholders will also be keen to see his plan for bringing convergence between long-run investment and revenue curves for the unit whose total investment from inception to March 2024, is projected at $680 million.
Source: The East African
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