The Grameenphone Board of Directors has appointed Mr. Michael Foley (56) as the company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective from 26 May, 2017. Mr. Petter-B Furberg (49), who has served as interim CEO since October 2016, will remain with Grameenphone in the capacity of Chairman of the Grameenphone Board of Directors.
The Board of Directors has also appointed Mr. Yasir Azman (42) as Deputy CEO. Azman will remain as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), while taking on extended responsibilities for the digital and commercial strategy within GP and Telenor’s Emerging Asia Cluster. The announcements were made following the 177th Board Meeting on Sunday, 7 May, 2017.
“I am very pleased that Michael is taking on the challenge of leading Grameenphone through the next phases of digitisation in Bangladesh. Grameenphone is on a strong trajectory and it will be Michael’s job to ensure continuity to the current direction together with all the employees in Bangladesh,” said Sigve Brekke, President & CEO of Telenor Group.
Mr. Foley, a Canadian by birth, has been with Telenor Group since 2014, most recently as the CEO of Telenor Bulgaria. Prior to that, he served as CEO of Telenor Pakistan. He has more than 30 years of sales, marketing and operational experience in the telecom, retail and gaming sectors from both advanced and growth markets. He is a Graduate of McGill University in Montreal with BA in Organisational Psychology. “I am honoured and excited to become part of Grameenphone at a time when connectivity and digitisation is transforming Bangladesh. I hope to bring learnings from other markets and further strengthen GP’s position as a leader in digital services,” said Foley.
The Board of Directors has appointed Mr. Furberg Chairman of the Grameenphone Board of Directors. He will also continue as Head of Telenor Group’s Emerging Markets Cluster in Asia and remain on the Group’s Executive Management Team.
The Emerging Markets Cluster in Asia comprises Telenor Group’s operations in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Myanmar. Grameenphone is the largest company of the cluster, both in terms of revenues and number of connections.
Mr. Christopher Laska will step down as Chairman of the Grameenphone Board of Directors and continue in his role as Senior Vice President for Board Governance and Partnership Relations in Asia.
The announced changes will be effective as of 26 May, 2017.