Telecommunications and managed services provider Seacom has appointed Alpheus Mangale as group CEO, effective April 1, succeeding Oliver Fortuin, who resigned in March.

Mangale, a seasoned business leader with over 25 years’ experience in enterprise, telecoms, financial services and technology markets across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, will work with Fortuin over the next three months to ensure a smooth leadership transition, at the end of which he will assume full responsibility for the business.

“I am delighted to join Seacom at this critical time in Africa's digital transformation and the business’ own transformation. I look forward to continuing to drive the strategy that has set the company on becoming a pan-African converged telecommunications organisation. Much has been achieved in the past two years, and I am excited to be part of a truly African business as we expand our services and geographic footprint further,” Mangale said in a statement issued on Thursday.

Mangale moves over from Standard Bank, where he was group chief engineering officer across all their markets.

Mangale previously spent 16 years at Dimension Data Group, now NTT, where he held various senior leadership roles, including chief technology officer, chief operating officer and client experience director across Africa and the Middle East.

He also held the roles of Cisco Systems South Africa MD and MTN Business chief enterprise officer in South Africa.

“Mangale’s experience in running the largest enterprise telecommunications unit in Africa, coupled with his intimate knowledge of the South African and African business environment, plus decades of experience managing large complex organisations, uniquely positions him to continue the excellent work done to date to transform and grow Seacom into Africa's largest converged telecommunications provider,” says Seacom chairperson Pieter Uys.

“The board and I are delighted that Alpheus has agreed to join us and lead our strategy of African expansion. We are confident, given Alpheus' track record, knowledge and experience in this operating environment, that Alpheus is precisely the right person to lead the business at this juncture. The board and I look forward to working with him to achieve our strategic objectives.”

The board further thanked Fortuin for his effective leadership and commitment and for redefining how the company did business across the continent.