South Africa’s MTN Group today announced that Phuthuma Nhleko, its president and CEO will not be renewing his long-term contract of employment which ends on June 30, 2010. Consequently he will stand down but has agreed to continue in his current role up to March 2011.

During the remainder of his tenure Nhleko has agreed to particularly focus on achieving certain key objectives including facilitating a seamless transition once his successor has been appointed.

“I have given this decision very careful consideration. I feel it is the right time to secure the next generation of leadership for the group – and the right time for me personally to start thinking about the next phase of my career”, Nhleko said.

Launched by Alcatel-Lucent in April 2009, the NG Connect Program aims to bring together members of the digital media value chain including infrastructure, device, application, and content companies into an end-to-end ecosystem, powered by next generation broadband networks. There is no better manifestation of this effort than the Connected Car, which was showcased in Velizy on the outskirts of Paris. Comm. was there

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Over the past seven years as MTC and then Zain managing director, Saad Al Barrak has presided over the most high-profile cellular operator in the Middle East. His resignation at the beginning of February, prompted by frustration with unilateral shareholder action leaves Zain bereft of its inexorable leader, and the Middle East losing one of its brightest corporate managers

Al Barrak and his managementeam have added tens of billions to Zain’s valuation over the years, and there are fears that some key executives may now also exit

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Etisalat, like most of the leading telecom providers from the region, is entering into uncharted territories as it looks to balance mild global economic resurgence with the need to extract value from a growing tapestry of assets. The telco’s chairman, Mohammed Omran acknowledges that 2010 and beyond shall be a challenging time for the corporation, but believes given its track record, experience and determination to innovate, a successful outcome is achievable

Mohammed Omran says prudence and the ambition to add value to the group are the premises on which Etisalat formulates its expansion strategy

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Last November, US-based network specialist Ciena Corporation announced it had been selected as the successful bidder in the auction of substantially all of the optical networking and carrier Ethernet assets of Nortel’s Metro Ethernet Networks (MEN) business. The deal capped a significant year for Ciena, which also saw the company establish a presence in the Middle East, with the view to quickly establishing a niche for itself

Ahmad has experience in the region, most recently as Gulf Carrier Sales Manager for Nortel

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