Airtel Nigeria Appoints New Chief Executive Officer

Airtel Nigeria has named Dinesh Balsingh as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, effective Nov. 1, 2024.

The announcement was made in a statement on Tuesday, signed by the Director of Corporate Communications and CSR, Airtel Nigeria, Femi Adeniran.

The new CEO succeeded Carl Cruz, who stepped down at the end of October to return to the Philippines.

The statement read in part, “Balsingh has extensive experience across the telecommunications industry and returns to Nigeria following his appointment as Managing Director and CEO of Airtel Tanzania in 2022.

“Prior to his move to Tanzania, he served as the Chief Commercial Officer at Airtel Nigeria and therefore brings with him considerable experience of the Nigerian telecommunications market.”

The company said he first joined Airtel Nigeria in 2013 as Marketing Director, following earlier leadership roles at Airtel India and Tata Docomo.

Speaking on the leadership changes, Airtel Africa Chief Executive Officer, Sunil Taldar, said, “Balsingh’s deep telecommunications experience and strong operational execution, combined with his knowledge of the Nigerian market, will be instrumental in further supporting our corporate purpose of transforming lives across Nigeria.”

Balsingh holds a Master of Business Administration from Thiagarajar School of Management.

Punch news/Olusola Akintonde