Ziaad Suleman, former EOH (iOCO) chief commercial officer, will soon take the reins at Liquid Intelligent Technologies as CEO of its SA operation. This, as Strive Masiyiwa’s Cassava Technologies announced sweeping changes to its leadership as part of its growth strategy having secured R5.7bn recently.
Liquid Intelligent Technologies is a business of Cassava.
In December, Cassava secured $310m (R5.718bn) in funding for its operations, reorganising the business in the process.
The was split between an equity investment round of $90m with participation from US International Development Finance Corporation, Finnish Fund for Industrial Cooperation, and Google; with the balance — $220m — made up of new credit facilities provided by Standard Bank, Rand Merchant Bank, Nedbank, and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
After this, the group said it had made a number of changes to its executive roster to push its “next growth phase”, with effect from March 1.
Masiyiwa’s Econet launched Cassava in 2021 as a new division, separating growth units such as fintech, fibre and a super app under one roof, as part of the group’s strategy for a future beyond the traditional telecom business.
Cassava houses Econet’s digital services and infrastructure product segments such as fibre, data centres and renewable energy, as well as cloud, cybersecurity, and fintech.
The group said Suleman “will drive the growth and innovation strategy of the SA operations as the organisation ushers in the next growth phase and ensures future competitiveness”.
Suleman replaces Deon Geyser, who has been appointed CEO of Liquid Networks, responsible for the connectivity business across Africa, including all of Liquid’s fibre, satellite, wireless, and wholesale voice and connectivity services.
Ahmed El Beheiry has been appointed COO and chief AI officer for the group, while Adil El Youssefi will be the new CEO for its co-location business.
Wellington Makamure has now been appointed CEO of the group’s rest of Africa and international operations; with Bronwen Zehmke now the group general counsel, Leonard Bore now the chief risk and compliance officer; and Sharon Marufu appointed as chief supply chain officer.
Finhai Munzara will be responsible for mergers & acquisitions, corporate finance and strategic partnerships as chief corporate development officer, and Loretta Songola becomes MD for Cassava Zimbabwe.
“These leadership changes reflect our commitment to assembling a dynamic, diverse and talented team to drive our company’s growth and success,” said Hardy Pemhiwa, president and group CEO of Cassava Technologies.
“Together, we will drive our ‘One Cassava’ strategy, which brings forward the full capability of the Cassava ecosystem in our chosen markets. This strategy enables us to serve our customers better, achieve faster growth and cement our competitive position.”
This comes as eight directors resigned from Masiyiwa’s other company, Ecocash Zimbabwe, including board chair Sherree Gladys Shereni, while 10 new directors have been appointed in a widescale restructuring of leadership.
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