Airtel Appoints Emeka Oparah Vice President For Africa

By Uche Mbah

Airtel Africa Plc has appointed Emeka Oparah, a Communications Professional, as Vice President, Corporate Communications.

This was disclosed by the Telecom giant in a statement Tuesday.

Oparah himself, also, announced it on his Facebook page Tuesday.

According to the Airtel statement, Oparah will be in charge of its 14 African markets, including Nigeria, as the mouthpiece of the company.

Oparah, whose office will be in Dubai, was occupying the same position in Nigeria.

“A highly respected crisis and Perception Management Expert, Oparah has over 25 years experience in the Communications industry spanning Journalism, Advertising, Public Relations, Events, Sponsorships and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) with 19 years in Airtel Nigeria. He rose from the position of Public Relations Manager to Head of PR, Events & Sponsorship and later Head of Corporate Communications & CSR before attaining his current position as the Director Corporate Communications & CSR for Airtel Nigeria, a position he has held since June 2011″, the statement read.

“Prior to joining Airtel Nigeria, he had stints in Imo Newspapers Limited (publishers of The Statesman, Sunday Statesman and Statesman Extra); Patike Communications (a Public Relations Consulting firm), Candid Communications and Richland Communications (both Advertising Agencies) and Cadbury Nigeria, one of Nigeria’s foremost Food and Beverages Manufacturing Company, where he worked for eight years as Media Relations Manager.

“A Mass Communication graduate of University of Nigeria, Oparah is a member of the International Public Relations Association (IPRA); International Association of Business Communicators (IABC); Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) and Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) and has attended numerous courses locally and internationally in Communications, Management and Leadership.”

Last year, Airtel appointed Olusegun Ogunsanya as CEO. He replaced Raghunath Mandava.

Currently, the telecom company is the most capitalised in the Nigerian stock exchange.

Airtel Africa recently surpassed Dangote Cement to become the most capitalised company listed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NSGE).