By Patrick Imoh
One of the four national telecom majors, 9mobile, recently announced the appointment of seasoned telecoms expert, Alan Sinfield, as its substantive Chief Executive Officer.
Alan Sinfield who succeeds Stephane Beuvelet that held the position in an acting capacity when the new board took over the company’s management in November 2018 brings to the table a wealth of global operational expertise. He has held leadership roles at numerous mobile, fixed-line and broadband data operators as well as retail, media, and wholesale distribution businesses across emerging markets in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.
Sinfield possesses extensive international and operational experience from wireless telecom, fintech, and banking sectors, all being huge plus to his new role at 9mobile.
His global experience covers countries as diverse as the United Kingdom, Germany, Portugal, Slovakia, Iraq, Qatar, Myanmar, South Korea, Cambodia and Hong Kong. He was previously the Chief Executive Officer at Amara Communications, a 4G LTE mobile broadband operator in Myanmar, and before this, he was the Chief Executive Officer of Cadcomms (qb), in Cambodia.
Other earlier roles included being CEO at Ooredoo (Starlink), a subsidiary of the listed Qatari Telecommunications Group, operating in Qatar and regionally, and also as Chief Information Officer and Chief Customer Services Officer at Orascom Telecom (IraQna), a subsidiary of the listed Egyptian Telecommunications Group, operating the first mobile network in Baghdad and surrounding territories providing voice and nascent data and satellite services.
The new 9mobile helmsman began his career in the Banking sector at Bank of America, where he was fast-tracked through a Management Trainee programme, later becoming a Programmer and Business Analyst where his desire to work overseas allowed him to close out the IT systems at Bank of America in Frankfurt, Germany.
Afterwards, Sinfield joined Barclays Bank in South Africa, spending three years there as a Technical Manager. He also worked for various other Banks in Portugal, Slovakia, and Hong Kong before his first foray into the telecom industry in Korea with SK Telecom, which led to an M&A role with the merger of SK Telecom & Shinsaegi Telecom.
Commenting on the appointment and huge tasks ahead, Alan Sinfield said, “The Nigerian telecoms industry is characterized by strong competition, but it is also an industry that is important to people everywhere. The country is rich in diversity and boasts of energetic, resilient, friendly and hardworking people and truly I am delighted to join the 9mobile family and I look forward to using my experience and unique value propositions to lead the company in the next exciting phase of its journey.
The goal is to build on the existing strong foundation of the company to create value that will transform the Nigerian telecoms sector. I also look forward to embracing the people, the culture and the unique knowledge that Nigeria has to offer.”
On his part and on behalf of the entire board of the company, Chairman of 9mobile, HRH, Alhaji Nasir Bayero, said, “Sinfield’s wealth of experience of building high performance and high-growth organizations will play a pivotal role in strengthening 9mobile’s market position in the highly competitive telecommunications industry. He brings with him the vision, passion and years of experience from diverse environments, which will consolidate our priorities to provide superior customer experience and sustained network quality.
We expect he works closely with the Board of Directors and all stakeholders to define credible and achievable long-term business plans, through the introduction of solutions to the evolving needs of the Nigerian telecommunication market.”
Picture: Sinfield
