By Our Reporter
Following the approvals of the Nigerian Communications Commission and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission as required by law, Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services Limited, operating under the trade name 9Mobile, is pleased to announce the completion of an equity investment by LH Telecommunication Limited.
The investment, which was approved by African Export Import Bank (AFREXIM), the senior lender to 9Mobile in May 2023 has resulted in a change in control of 9Mobile in favour of the new investor by the issuance of new shares amounting to 95.5% of 9Mobile to the new investor in consideration for the injection of fresh capital into the company.
Pursuant to the injection of capital, the new investor nominated the following persons to the board of directors of 9Mobile:
Thomas Etuh is the Chairman of the Board. He is an accomplished and versatile entrepreneur with over 36 years of experience in strategic sectors of the African economy, including agriculture, fertilizer production, mining, banking, telecommunications, power and aviation. He is a passionate leader with a track record of successful corporate management, ensuring that clear objectives and expectations are delivered and sustained. Mr. Etuh is the founder of the Tak Group of Companies. He previously served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Unity Bank Plc, Veritas Kapital Assurance Plc and Lighthouse Capital Limited. He is currently the Chairman of the Board of Notore Chemicals Industries Plc. As Chairman of Jennifer Etuh Foundation (JEF), he has championed several healthcare and life-empowering projects in the underserved regions of Nigeria
Nahim Abe Ibraheem has over 30 years of experience across finance, upstream and downstream oil trade, procurement, and manufacturing. He began his career at Orbit Communications in 1990 and founded Soveran Nigeria Limited, a specialty procurement and petroleum product distribution company, in 1995. As Chairman of Euronat Nigeria Limited, he has overseen major oil product exports from the NLNG and NNPC. His notable roles include representing VShips Monaco S.A in Nigeria and advising Africa Merchant Bank ( a Fortis Bank Subsidiary) and Société Générale Bank France. Mr. Ibraheem serves as Chairman of the Boards of Veritas Kapital Assurance PLC and Lighthouse Capital Limited, as well as a Non-Executive Director of the VFD Group and Veritas Glanvills Pensions Ltd. He has sat on the boards of Morris Nigeria Limited and Superphosphate Fertilisers & Chemicals Limited. He is a member of the Institute of Directors (Nigeria) and PESA, and an avid sports fan.
Femi Edun a financial services industry professional with over 35 years’ experience across assurance, consulting, credit ratings and research, investment banking and proprietary investment, from a variety of roles in Akintola Williams & Co (now Deloitte), Price Waterhouse, (now PricewaterhouseCoopers), Agusto & Co. Limited, Nigeria’s first credit rating agency and Frontier Capital Limited. He has been involving in notable pioneering initiatives in the financial services industry and several landmark transactions. Whilst serving as a volunteer adviser to the Federal Government, he was a non-executive director of the Bank of Industry. He is the Chairman of the board of Craneburg Construction Limited, independent non-executive director of Chevron Closed Pension Fund Administrators Limited and non-executive director of Notore Chemical Industries Plc and Agusto & Co. Limited amongst others
Following the completion of the transaction, LH Telecommunication Limited has nominated the following new members to the board of directors of 9Mobile:
Senator Daisy Ehanire Danjuma was elected as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2003 where she served on numerous committees, most notably as Chairman of the ECOWAS Parliament’s Women and Children’s Rights Committee and Chairman Senate Committee on Women Affairs and Youth Development. Following her legislative tenure, she held the position of Executive Vice Chairman of SAPETRO until December 2023 when she was appointed as the Executive Chairman. Senator Danjuma is the Chairman, Board of Trustees of the H I D Awolowo Foundation, a Member Board of Trustees of Women at Risk International Foundation (WARIF), the Chairman Board of Trustees of Lagos Public Interest Law Partnership (LPILP) and the Chairman of May & Baker Nigeria Plc. She worked as a State Counsel in the Lagos State Ministry of Justice (Department of Public Prosecutions) and was a pioneer Legal Counsel to the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria before working for the investment bank Nigerian Acceptances Limited (NAL Merchant Bank). She was Company Secretary/Legal Adviser to the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) before moving into private practice. Senator Danjuma is a member of the International Bar Association (IBA), the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and the International Federation of Female Lawyers (FIDA). Senator Daisy Danjuma has also been awarded honorary doctorate degrees by the University of Ibadan, University of Benin and Redeemer’s University.
Michael Ikpoki, Michael Ikpoki is an accomplished Multinational Business Executive/Leader with over 25 year’s experience across regulatory, commercial, operational management/leadership and consulting/advisory roles in the African Telecom Industry. He was a former Chief Executive Officer of MTN Ghana and MTN Nigeria. He is Founder/Managing Partner of Africa Context Advisory Partners where he leads expert teams to consult on Telecom/ICT in Africa. He is Chairman of the Boards of Capricorn Digital Limited and Amplitude Telecoms Africa Limited. He is a member of the Boards of Telecel Group and Unilever Nigeria Plc.
Ibrahim Puri, Ibrahim Ajimasu Puri is a finance professional who possesses over 30 years of cognate banking experience encompassing operations, marketing, retail, corporate banking, and human resource management. He was an Executive Director with the United Bank for Africa (UBA), with responsibility for the bank’s operations in Northern Nigeria. He currently serves on the boards of several blue-chip companies in Nigeria including the Nigeria Breweries Plc and is Chairman of the Board of Redtech Limited, a member of the Heirs Holdings Group.
Gloria Danjuma, a dynamic and result-oriented professional with a proven track record of leadership and strategic vision across multiple industries. She has over 20 years of experience driving growth, maximizing shareholder value, and leading organisations through periods of transformation. She is the current chairperson of NAL/Comet Group, Unitrust Insurance Limited and Wheatbaker Investment Properties Limited. She is also a Board Member of the TY Danjuma Family Office, Novotel Hotel Port Harcourt and a member of TY Danjuma Foundation Board of Trustees.
Emmanuel Etuh is a professional and business executive whose experience covers law, finance and operations across diverse industries. He currently serves as Executive Director, Corporate Services at Lighthouse Capital, overseeing the operational aspects of the business, including investments, client service, risk and technology. He also serves on the board of Veritas Kapital Assurance Plc and Tak Agro & Chemicals Limited. He commenced his career at Banwo & Ighodalo and later served a stint at the International Bar Association, London. He also served as a lead transactor at TMD Advisory Services focused on the origination, structuring and execution of financial advisory mandates in West and East Africa. He is the founding partner at Haute and Peers LP, providing strategic, corporate and commercial advice to technology, media and telecoms players in the Nigerian market.
The new Board has also also ratified the appointment of the new management team led by Obafemi Banigbe as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Company to lead the Company through this transition stage and take it on the path of recovery. Obafemi is an accomplished technology executive with proven track record of steering technological innovations and strategic initiatives throughout various pivotal markets across Africa. He has over 24 years in the telecommunications industry and has worked in different capacities within the industry, including as Network Operations director in Airtel Nigeria, Chief Technology Officer in Millicom International Cellular Tanzania, Chief Operating Officer and interim Chief Executive Officer of Millicom Ghana. He brings his deep technical knowledge and understanding of the telecommunications industry in Africa and proven leadership to the team.
Similarly, the Board has approved the appointment of John Vasikiran as the company’s Chief Operating Officer and Abolaji Idowu as Chief Financial Officer. John Vasikiran is a technology business executive with over 25 years of experience as a dynamic & results-oriented CXO, providing Strategic and Operations leadership in uniquely challenging situations. John had successful stints as a Group Chief Commercial Officer of Glo Nigeria, Glo Ghana, and Glo Benin. He was also CEO of Cellcom (Orange) in Liberia, CEO Cellcom- Guinea (Conakry) and was Director of Business Development & Sales (Africa Region) for Ribbon Communications formerly Nortel Networks. Prior to this, John held various Sr. level Positions in MA Group, including as Managing Director of Conoil Plc and Director Commercial of Glo Nigeria.
On his part, Idowu has joined the company with over 20 years of experience having led finance transformation and delivering ambitious growth for global giants, such as Vodafone, Telefonica O2, MTN Nigeria, Starcomms PLC, Shell, Barclays, PepsiCo International, British Gas, Johnson & Johnson, Norgine Pharmaceutical and Vivo Energy. He has held senior positions in various organizations across Europe and Africa raising finance, transforming organizations, championing growth, delivering significant cost saving and efficiency, optimizing asset utilization, reorganizing and streamlining companies, and preparing entities for new markets.
The reconstitution of the Board of Directors and the Executive leadership of the company has brought the 9mobile transformation programme to a momentous phase in readiness to compete strongly in the market.