New Delhi, Feb 5 (IANS): In pursuit of its growth agenda, telecom service provider Bharti Airtel Wednesday announced a rejig of its top team at Airtel Africa.

V.G. Somasekhar has been appointed executive operations director of the strategic business unit (SBU) clustering Zambia, Congo B, Malawi, Burkina, Niger, Chad, Madagascar and Seychelles. Somasekhar has been managing director for Airtel Uganda since December 2010, a company statement here said.

Bharti Airtel is a telecommunications service provider with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa.

Christophe Soulet has been appointed as executive operations director of the second SBU consisting of Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Gabon, Uganda, Sierra Leone and Rwanda.

“These two business leaders have distinguished themselves with their exceptional understanding of the African telecoms landscape. We will leverage their experience, leadership and understanding of the African market to accelerate our market leadership opportunities and develop team capabilities as we seek to take our brand to the next level,” Christian de Faria, chief executive officer, Airtel Africa said.

Following Somasekhar's appointment, Arindam Chakrabarty who is currently chief commercial officer for Airtel Uganda will be acting as the managing director until a new managing director is appointed.

With its presence in 17 African countries, Airtel is the largest telecoms service provider across the continent in terms of geographical reach and had over 63.7 million customers at the end of quarter ended March 31, 2013. Globally, Airtel is ranked as the fourth largest mobile services provider in terms of customer base.