Airtel Africa, leading telecommunications and mobile money services provider, has announced the appointment of Mr. Dinesh Balsingh as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Airtel Networks Limited, also known as Airtel Nigeria, following the resignation of Mr. Carl Cruz.

Mr. Cruz is stepping down from his role at Airtel Nigeria to return to the Philippines, where he will assume the position of Deputy CEO at Globe Telecom, effective January 1, 2025. Globe Telecom is the largest mobile network operator in the Philippines, serving over 54.7 million customers. Mr. Cruz will report to Globe’s long-time CEO and President, Ernest Cu, who will continue in his leadership role until the company’s 2025 annual stockholders’ meeting.

Mr. Cruz joined Airtel Nigeria as CEO and Regional Operating Director for Airtel Africa on May 5, 2023.

Mr. Balsingh, who has over 24 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, returns to Nigeria following his tenure as CEO of Airtel Tanzania, where he was appointed in 2022. Prior to that, he served as Chief Commercial Officer at Airtel Nigeria, bringing significant expertise to the Nigerian market. Mr. Balsingh’s career includes leadership roles at Hutchison Essar, Airtel India, and Tata Docomo. He initially joined Airtel Nigeria in 2013 as Marketing Director, before being promoted to Chief Commercial Officer in 2018.