Tiemoko Coulibaly to share Airtel Africa's strategy in Francophone markets at West & Central Africa Com

Tiemoko Coulibaly, CEO for the Francophone Africa Region at Bharti Airtel, has confirmed his participation to the West & Central Africa Com event taking place in Dakar, Senegal in June.
He will share his views of Airtel's strategy in the region, and of how developments in the market are affecting business models and opportunities. When we met at Mobile World Congress last week, Tiemoko said that the last year had been focused on implementing the strategy planned by Airtel when it acquired Zain Africa in 2010. He refuted that Airtel had engaged in a price war to increase its position in its markets, saying that such comments were extrapolated from the situation in Kenya; indeed in Francophone markets such as Gabon, DRC and Chad, the company brought its tariffs down to the existing market's level. Challenges in the region remain unchanged: building infrastructure, power provision, and finding and keeping talent. However Tiemoko believes that the economic environment is positive, which should increase customer spending and in turn penetration. To reinforce Airtel's position in the region, Tiemoko will focus on key strategic points: continuing the launch of 3G across the region, developing strategic partnerships, and launching attractive services such as Airtel Money.
Tiemoko Coulibaly is a key figure in Africa's communications and wider business market, with more than 22 years’ experience in marketing, sales and general management. He became Chief Executive Officer of the Francophone Africa region following the acquisition of Zain Africa by the Bharti Group in June 2010. He also serves as a board member of Airtel within Africa. Prior to the acquisition, he was the Chief Operating Officer of Zain Africa’s Francophone countries from March 2006, overseeing seven operations in Burkina Faso, Chad, Gabon, Madagascar, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Niger. In his role as COO, he provided strategic direction and operational guidance to the Francophone region, contributing in strengthening market position in the operating companies of the region, despite aggressive competitive attacks. Prior to his role as COO, he was the Group Marketing Director - Operations of Celtel International B.V., based in the Netherlands.
At West & Central Africa Com, he will be joined by representatives of other major players in the region's market such as Orange, MTN, Google, Expresso Telecom, Millicom, Etisalat. The event is sponsored by Sonatel Orange, ACE Consortium, O3B Networks, Telecom Italia Sparkle, Corning and BICS.