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Having laid a strong foundation, the company is now looking to its next phase of growth built on a strong purpose⏤ transforming lives, using pioneering technology that ensures increased reach and penetration, as an enabler. To lead this customer-centric vision and ensure brilliant execution in the marketplace, Manoj Murali, the man leading that next phase of growth has assembled a team of 12 experts, each of whom is an expert in their respective fields.
To deliver Airtel’s “winning with people agenda” of being the employer of choice with a diverse and inclusive high-performance work environment, each of these 12 leaders must cascade this purpose down to their respective teams, ensuring sustained future-ready talent that is highly engaged.
Manoj, the Managing Director of the Company, is a telecom stalwart with over 22 years of experience in the telecom industry across various roles and geographies. A Bharti Airtel veteran, he joined the telco that is now one od the world’s largest, in 2001 and has held various roles such as Hub Chief Executive Officer at Airtel Tamil Nadu. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Instrumentation & Electronics from the University of Poona in Pune, and MBA from Symbiosis International University.
Manoj Murali arrived in Uganda from Airtel India where he handled different roles across geographies in India as well as at the Corporate Office. He also had stints in international operations in Sri Lanka, Seychelles and the Channel Islands.
His most immediate role, before Uganda, was Chief Executive Officer for the Tamil Nadu and Kerala regions for Airtel. Prior to this, he held other roles including; Chief Operating (Executive) Officer in Rajasthan and Business Head (Chief Operating Officer) in Andhra Pradesh. He joined Bharti Airtel in 2001 and combined, he brought with him to Uganda, over two decades of experience in the telecom industry across various roles.
Since arriving at Airtel, he has been a linchpin in accelerating Airtel’s growth.
Upon arrival, he successfully led the regulatory requirement to separate the fintech and GSM arms of the telco, leading into the creation of Airtel Mobile Commerce Uganda Limited (AMCUL) as the fintech arm, while the GSM business remained Airtel Uganda, that he leads.
Under his leadership, the GSM arm continues to grow⏤ by 16.3%, from UGX1.29 trillion in 2020 to UGX1.51 trillion while net profit grew 41.9% from UGX277 billion to UGX393 billion. In 2022, turnover grew 6% from UGX1.51 trillion to UGX1.6 trillion. Net profit however reduced 17% from UGX393 billion to UGX326 billion.
Airtel Uganda, projects to grow revenue by 16.6% to reach UGX1.86 trillion while net profit is expected to reach UGX461 billion- a growth of 17.3%. This growth is anchored mainly on a 7% growth in voice revenue and a 33.6% growth in data revenue- all powered by a 17.1% growth in the customer database.
Manoj has also successfully led the telco’s historic Initial Public Offering in which it is giving a chance to Ugandans to own 20% of the company, valued at UGX800 billion.
Who are the other leaders?
Amit Kapur
Chief Commercial Officer
Amit has over 19 years of experience in commercial business largely sales and marketing. Before joining Airtel, Amit worked in India as the Business Head for Karnataka Circle for Vodafone Mobile Services Limited in Karnataka.
He has held various senior sales roles in PepsiCo India Holdings PVT. Ltd, Britannia Industries Limited, Coca-Cola India Inc, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages PVT Limited, Agro Tech Foods Limited and Blow Plast Limited.
Amit holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from the Indian Institute of Management – Calcutta and a Bachelor of Science in Physics from Delhi University.
Dennis Abigaba Kakonge
Legal & Regulatory Director
Dennis holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Edinburgh Business School, a Postgraduate Diploma in Law Development from Herriot Watt University and a Bachelor of Laws from Makerere University.
Prior to joining the Company in 2009, Dennis worked with MTN Uganda and Byenkya, Kihika & Co Advocates and is a practising Advocate with over 18 years’ experience.
Ali Balunywa
Sales & Distribution Director – Core Markets
Ali has over ten (10) years of experience in various commercial roles within sales, from lower levels to leadership and across Fast Moving Consumer Goods and telecommunications namely EABL/Diageo, British American Tobacco and Airtel Uganda.
He has a Master of Arts in Public Administration and Management and a Bachelor of Mass Communication, both obtained from Makerere University.
Brenden Kachenje
Sales & Distribution Director – Growth Markets
Brenden has over fifteen (15) years of work experience, with the bulk of his experience gained in the telecommunications industry. Before his role as the Sales and Distribution Director, he was the General Manager for Airtel Broadband in the Company. He has also held various senior roles with different telecommunications companies.
This includes having worked as Chief Operating Officer and Commercial Director for Smart Uganda, Chief Technical and Information Officer for Smart Uganda, Assistant Chief Information Officer with MTN South Sudan, Service Delivery Manager for MTN South Sudan, Head of Department VAS/IN for Smart Mobile – Tanzania and Head: Business Solutions and Support Division for Hits Africa Group-Based in Malabo-Equatorial.
Brenden holds a Master’s Degree in Information Systems Management from Salford University in the United Kingdom, and an advanced Diploma in Information Technology from the Institute of Accountancy in Arusha.
He is an Oracle-certified associate and a graduate from the Digital Frontiers Institute on financial inclusion aspects.
Henry Kamau Njoroge
Marketing Director
Henry has over eighteen (18) years of progressive strategic planning and commercial execution experience with leading multinationals with over ten (10) years in top leadership.
He started his career at Citibank Nairobi as a Relationship Assistant, before moving to Equity Bank as a Credit Officer and later PWC as Senior Associate. Henry then joined Airtel Kenya as Assistant Manager of business Planning and Strategy and grew to the role of Head of Department for Commercial Planning, Insights and Retention, and was later appointed Marketing Director for Airtel Kenya in 2010.
Henry holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance from the University of Nairobi and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). Henry is an alumnus of both INSEAD (through the Global Leadership Programme) and Harvard Business School (HBS) (through the Senior Executive Programme for Africa – SEPA).
Nishant Mohan
Related
Finance Director
Nishant Mohan is a Chartered Accountant at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He joined Bharti Airtel on 3 December 2003 and has nineteen (19) years of experience in the industry.
Before joining Airtel Uganda on 1 May 2023, Nishant worked for Airtel Africa in Tanzania (East Africa) & Sierra Leone (West Africa) as Finance Director and in different capacities under finance functions in India.
Rajesh Agrawal
Network Director
Rajesh is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt with a Diploma in Management, AMIE in Electronics and Telecommunications as well as a Diploma in Instrumentation Engineering completed with a gold medal.
Prior to joining the Company, he worked as Head Switch – ADIL (now Vodafone), Sr. Engineer, Telecom R&D and Integration Instrumentation Ltd, Kota.
He joined Bharti Airtel on 1 August 2001 and served in different capacities including, inter alia, Head: Switching Operations, Head: Switch, Head: Network Services and Chief Technology Officer.
He joined Airtel Uganda on 1 October 2011 as Network Director.
Donald Twesiga
Information Technology Director
Donald has over twenty (20) years of ICT experience dealing with tactical and strategic planning, development, evaluation and coordination of IT and VAS systems and has mainly worked in large telecommunication environments and worked through the ranks from a Systems Administrator at Swift Global Uganda, then Infocom Uganda, MTN at Opco and group level, Safaricom Kenya, and most recently with Telkom Kenya.
Donald holds a Master of Science in Information Systems Management from the University of Liverpool, as well as a Postgraduate Certificate in Advanced Project Management from the University of South Africa and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Psychology from Makerere University.
Michael Opwonya
Supply Chain Management Director
Michael has a Master of Business Administration from the Eastern and Southern African Management Institute and a Bachelor of Statistics (Hons).
Prior to joining Airtel Uganda, he worked as a graduate Trainee at National Council of Science and Technology- Ministry of Finance Uganda.
He then joined Celtel Uganda as a Financial Analyst, Procurement Officer, Administrative Officer, Operations Logistics Manager, Projects Transition Manager, Contracts and Logistics Manager, Planning Reports and Compliance Manager and Procurement Manager.
Michael joined the Airtel Uganda on 3 May 2003.
Flavia Ntambi Lwanga
Human Resource Director
Flavia holds a Master of Organisational Psychology and B.A (Hons) Social Sciences from Makerere University in Kampala.
Prior to joining Airtel Uganda, she worked as the Head of Human Resources and Human Resources Operations Manager at Stanbic Bank Uganda. Her previous roles include serving as the Human Resources Manager for Uganda Breweries Ltd, Administrator for Uganda Flowers Exporters Association and Sales Representative for MultiChoice Uganda Limited.
Flavia joined the Airtel Uganda on 24 September 2012.
Allan Andrew Ssemakula
Enterprise Director
Allan has been the Enterprise Director since March 2019. He previously worked as Commercial Director with Hima Cement being responsible for its commercial operations in Uganda, Rwanda, East DRC and
Southern Sudan. He joined Hima Cement as the Marketing Director responsible for Marketing, Business Development, Go-To Market, Innovations and Corporate Communications before taking over the entire Commercial Department. During his employment with Uganda Breweries, he worked as a Division Sales Manager, Sales Operations and Strategy Manager and Sales Capabilities Manager. He has also worked with Total Uganda Limited serving in various roles within the Retail Department. He is a lawyer by training, giving him a rich experience in not only commercial management in multinational operations in Africa but also experience in corporate and business law.
He holds a Bachelor of Legal Laws from the University of Dar-es-Salaam, Diploma in Legal Practice from the Law Development Centre in Kampala, CEO Apprenticeship and Finance certification from Strathmore Business School in Nairobi, and he completed the Executive Academy Programme in Marketing and Commercial from HEC University of Paris
Dennis Kahindi
Home Broadband Director
Dennis holds a Global Executive MBA from United States International University and a Bachelor of Mass Communications from Makerere University. He has over 20 years of Telecom and Technology business experience in East and Central Africa.
He started his career in 2002 at Bushnet, Uganda’s pioneer Internet Service Provider before moving on to Huawei Uganda, Orange Uganda and Eaton Towers as Country Sales & Distribution Lead. Dennis returned to Uganda in 2019 to lead the Liquid Intelligent Business as Chief Executive Officer, before taking on the role of Director Home Broadband Business at Airtel Uganda, having previously worked with Oracle Rwanda as Business Lead, Microsoft Inc. as Country Director for Uganda and Rwanda, and more recently as Chief Executive Officer of Liquid Intelligent Technologies Uganda.