The Chief Executive Officer of AirtelTigo, Murthy Chaganti has left the company because his contract has run out.
In his place, there is no named acting CEO yet, but Techgh24 has learnt that there is a consultant who currently runs the affairs of the company on behalf of Ghana government, which now owns 100% shares in the company.
The original owners of the company transferred all their shares to Ghana government for a reported US$1, plus some agreed liabilities, which included a US$100 million debt to Standard Chartered Bank.
Murthy at AirtelTigo
Murthy took over the company when Mitwa Kaemba Ng’ambi who left after just one year in office and joined MTN as CEO of MTN Rwanda.
Mitwa herself took over from Roshi Motman, who oversaw the merger between Airtel Ghana and Tigo Ghana before leaving.
Until his appointment as substantive CEO, Murthy was Chief Operating Officer of the company and acted as the CEO in September 2019 during the merger, but reported to Roshi.
He played a key role in the successful network integration process of Airtel and Tigo after the merger of the two telecommunications giants in Ghana.
So whereas Roshi was at the head of the merger process, it was Murthy who actually led the integration technically and commercially.
Following the completion of the integration in record time, the first of its kind in Africa and delivering significant savings in operating expense (OPEX), Mr Chaganti assumed additional responsibility of leading the commercial function to focus and deliver growth, which saw a turnaround of data growth.
It was therefore not a surprise that when the position of CEO became vacant, he became the natural choice for the role.
About Murthy
Prior to joining AirtelTigo, he served in senior leadership roles in the telecommunication industry in India.
As the Chief Executive Officer of the Gujarat Circle, Bharti Airtel India, he led the turnaround of this multi-million business by delivering quality network and superior customer experience in the process, achieving the highest ever revenue market share gain.
Murthy was the Head of Business at Chennai and Andhra Pradesh Circles of Aircel India, where he led the launch of Aircel, establishing Aircel as the brand of choice in data through innovative go-to-market initiatives and ultimately building a market-leading business.
He also held various executive positions, including working with leading organizations like Colgate Palmolive, General Mills, Motorola and Vodafone.
Murthy holds an MBA from Xavier School of Management, India and a BA in Engineering from Osmania University, India.
He is a keen observer of the world and loves travelling, sports and dabbles in writing.
