New Delhi, Aug 28 (IANS): Bharti Airtel Wednesday named a new chief executive for its Africa operations.

Christian de Faria, who has been with South African telecom firm MTN, will take over as chief executive officer from Jan 1, 2014, the company said in a statement.

Faria will join Airtel Africa Sep 16, 2013 and report to Manoj Kohli, managing director and CEO (International), in-charge of Airtel’s operations in Africa, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, who will relocate to India Jan 1, 2014.

As CEO- Airtel Africa, Faria will be based out of Nairobi and lead the growth agenda across markets and build key skills and capabilities within the organization, said the statement.

"We have built a strong foundation for the next phase of growth of our Africa operations and are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead," Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman, Bharti Airtel, said.

Kohli, while continuing to lead Airtel’s international operations and providing governance oversight to Airtel Africa, Airtel Bangladesh and Airtel Sri Lanka, would also lead strategic issues such as in-market consolidation through merger and acquisition, key matters relating to TowerCo, global partnerships, global sourcing from key partners and strategic regulatory aspects, the company said.