Etisalat announced its new CEOs

Etisalat has announced two new company CEOs. The Etisalat Board of Directors has appointed Saleh Al Abdooli as the chief executive officer for Etisalat UAE and Saeed Al Hamli as chief executive officer for Etisalat Misr, effective from April 2012.

Saleh Al Abdooli

Al Abdooli has been the CEO of Etisalat Misr for the last five years and during this time in Egypt, he has earned several international awards as a leader of one of the best third entrants in mobile operation worldwide. He has achieved remarkable results in the mature Egyptian market that had been dominated by Vodafone and Orange (Mobinil).

"Etisalat Group enjoys a wealth of experienced leaders that achieved series of great successes starting since it has started expanding into international investment back in 2004. Etisalat also has invested heavily and continuously in the development of its human capital which is the cornerstone of its success. Today the number of UAE nationals employed in Etisalat's foreign operations exceeds 70 UAE citizens," said Mohamed Omran, chairman of Etisalat.

According to Etisalat, Al Abdooli has demonstrated the ability to meet and exceed challenging business objectives in an extremely tough business environment and led Etisalat Misr from a startup operator to a full-fledged market competitor. Etisalat Misr today covers 99% of the populated areas in Egypt with its 2G/3G networks and leads the market in 3G Broadband subscriber.

Saeed Al Hamli is now chief of Etisalat Misr, in which Etisalat owns a 66 percent stake. The new Etisalat Misr CEO, Al Hamli has worked both inside and outside the UAE, and worked as the CEO of Etisalat Afghanistan between 2007 and 2011, where he achieved excellent business and operational results.

"Saeed is one of the great Etisalat leaders with a proven track record. He is the right person for the Egyptian. Al Hamli, who comes from diverse technical and commercial backgrounds, enjoys more than 20 years of experience in the telecom industry. Since he joined Etisalat in 1991, he has held a range of managerial and executive positions and demonstrated remarkable performance," said Ahmed Julfar, Etisalat Group CEO.

Earlier this month, Etisalat appointed Jamal al Jarwan as the its new chief regional officer for Asia and analysts expect the operator will also appoint heads for Africa and the Middle East.

Last August, Ahmad Julfar became group chief executive while in December Daniel Ritz appointed chief strategy officer and Serkan Okandan group chief financial officer. Matthew Willsher joined as chief marketing officer last year.