Glo gets CEO, board of directors in transparency move

For the first time since it began operations in 2023, Globacom will appoint a chief executive officer and constitute a board of directors.

This is part of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) ‘s efforts to strengthen corporate governance in the telecoms industry. People close to the matter noted that there has been a considerable shift in how the telco now relates to the regulator as it takes steps to strengthen its internal processes.

The telco is expected to make an official announcement soon and has notified the NCC. According to a report by TechCabal, the telco’s new CEO will be Ahmad Farroukh, a former CEO of MTN Nigeria.

An NCC document seen by BusinessDay read, “Globacom, as one of the key players in Nigeria’s telecommunication industry, has at times faced challenges regarding regulatory compliance and corporate governance.

“These issues have occasionally required political interventions to address shortfalls in meeting regulatory standards and have led to disputed with other operators. However, with the regulator’s firm commitment to transparency and accountability, we are now witnessing a positive shift in Globacom’s approach.”

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Other corporate governance steps include the payment of outstanding debts and improved responsiveness and compliance.

The telco’s operational shift follows a significant drop in its subscriber base, which fell by 69.20 percent in six months to 19.15 million in September from 62.19 million in March after a regulatory audit of the industry’s subscriber base revealed discrepancies.

“One Mobile Network Operator was found to have incorrectly reported around 40 million subscribers as active, despite the absence of any revenue-generating activity over a 90-day period. This was in direct violation of the Commission’s guidelines for determining active subscribers and led to an inflated report of the operator’s subscriber base, thereby skewing industry statistics,” the document from the NCC revealed.