Orange has appointed a series of CEOs for four of its subsidiaries in Africa and the Middle East as part of the group’s international mobility policy. The appointments are effective from September 13, 2015.

Eric Bouquillon, the new CEO of Orange Guinea, is a graduate of the Lille University of Science and Technology. He has 30 years of experience with the Orange Group. After a career in sales, mainly focused on call centres in France and Poland, he was appointed director of a technical assistance unit. He has been the CEO and GM of Orange Réunion and Mayotte since 2010.

Alassane Diene, the new CEO of Orange Mali, has 29 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, including stints in Internal auditing, management control, strategy and HR, and has served as both head of auditing and management control and head of human resources at Sonatel. He managed the group subsidiary Orange Guinea from its creation in November 2007, making it the leader on its market.

Jérôme Hénique, the new CEO of Jordan Telecom, has spent over two decades with the Orange Group. After starting his career as a strategy consultant, he held executive positions in France, Spain, and Senegal and worked in both the landline and mobile sectors for incumbent operators and challengers. He has been the deputy CEO of the Sonatel Group since 2010.

Thierry Marigny, the new Deputy CEO of Sonatel, and following a career as a consultant, he moved on to a series of operational positions, including chief marketing Officer at Mobistar, deputy CEO of Lebanese mobile operator Cellis, founder and CEO of the start-up Cityneo and CEO of Orange Tunisia. Most recently, he served as the global brand VP and launched the new overhaul of the Orange brand for the whole international group scope.

IHS Holding has completed a deal to acquire and lease back 949 towers from Airtel Zambia.

Airtel Africa confirmed last December it would sell 1,100 towers in Zambia and Rwanda for a reported US$200 million to IHS, before leasing back the infrastructure for 10 years, under a contract that could be renewed.

Airtel said the deal allows it to focus “on its core business and customers, enables it to deleverage through debt reduction and will significantly reduce its ongoing capital expenditure on passive infrastructure”.

In July, Airtel said it had sold tower assets in five African countries, raising US$1.3 billion, and was in talks over similar divestment in another six markets.

IHS has spent US$500 million across Africa on power systems since Q1 2013, and said it will be rolling out renewable energy solutions across Airtel’s network.

By the end of 2016, the company said 80 per cent of its towers will be run on hybrid solar solutions.

Airtel had a similar deal in place with rival tower company Helios for the sale of 1,000 towers in Tanzania, but the transaction was terminated for undisclosed reasons.

Helios Investment Partners has entered the race to buy some or all of the 70 per cent held by the Orange Group in Telkom Kenya, the country’s fixed incumbent and third largest mobile operator.

Orange’s stake has been up for sale for some time, with previous bids having failed, including one from Vietnam’s Viettel Group at the end of 2014.

Helios is thought to be eyeing a 51 per cent stake in Telkom Kenya, with the country’s government retaining a 29 per cent stake and Orange keeping a 20 per cent stake.

The French group has previously said the Kenyan business is under review as part of its strategy of being a top-two player in the markets where it operates.

Helios has a number of investments in Africa’s mobile market, including Helios Towers Africa, which owns towers in Ghana, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Congo-Brazzaville. The investment firm also backs Helios Towers Nigeria.

In addition, the private equity firm is an investor in Wananchi, a triple play operator (broadband, TV and voice) in a number of East African markets, including Kenya. The firm is also backed by Liberty Global and Altice. Helios’ presence as an investor might give a clue about its intentions for Telkom Kenya, if its bid proves successful.

Helios is thought to be close to concluding negotiations with Orange, and then will begin talks with the Kenyan government.

Michel Combes has been appointed COO of cable-to-mobile group Altice and chairman of its mobile subsidiary Numericable SFR, but has also come under fire in France following reports that he will receive almost €14 million (US$15.6 million) in stock by 2018 for his services to Alcatel-Lucent.

The exiting chief is widely renowned for turning around the fortunes of the struggling French vendor when taking on the job in 2013, as well as masterminding the company’s €15.6 billion sale to Nokia, which led to his departure.

Mobily Ventures, the venture capital arm of Mobily, announced it is investing in Fetchr, a shipping and logistics start-up that utilises cutting edge technology to overcome shipping challenges in the Middle East.

Dubai-based Fetchr offers a smartphone app that facilitates package delivery in a region where the lack of addressing systems troubles businesses and consumers. The start-up’s proprietary technology allows scheduling package pick-up and delivery using smartphones and their GPS capabilities. The phone being used as a delivery address is only one of a suite of technologies Fetchr has launched.