Ex-Airtel Africa CEO Segun Ogunsanya takes Vodacom board seat from Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa

Former Airtel Africa Chief Executive Officer Segun Ogunsanya has been appointed an independent non-executive director of Vodacom Group, succeeding Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa on the board as part of a scheduled change in its composition.

Ogunsanya will join the South African telecommunications company’s board on Oct. 9, 2026, a day after Mahanyele-Dabengwa retires from the board. The change will also affect the composition of Vodacom’s board committees.

Mahanyele-Dabengwa joined the Vodacom board on Jan. 1, 2019. She currently chairs the Remuneration Committee and serves as a member of the Nomination Committee. Her departure will bring an end to more than seven years of service on the board.

Former Airtel Africa CEO joins board

Ogunsanya brings more than 35 years of management and corporate experience spanning telecommunications, banking, finance, fast-moving consumer goods and corporate governance. His appointment adds a former African telecommunications executive to the board at a time when Vodacom continues to operate across several of the continent’s largest and fastest-growing communications markets.

He studied electrical and electronics engineering at the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, and later received an honorary Doctor of Science in computer science education from Tai Solarin University of Education. He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, the Nigerian Society of Engineers, the Institute of Credit Administration and the Institute of Directors (Nigeria).

Ogunsanya spent his final years in corporate management at Airtel Africa, where he served as group chief executive officer and managing director until his retirement in June 2024. He joined the company in 2012 and oversaw a business that provides mobile telecommunications and financial services across 14 African countries.

Ogunsanya’s corporate career crosses sectors

Before Airtel Africa, Ogunsanya held senior positions in the Coca-Cola system and the banking sector. He was managing director of Nigerian Bottling Company, a Coca-Cola Hellenic operation, and previously served as chief executive officer of Coca-Cola Sabco in Kenya and general manager of Coca-Cola Bottling Company in Ghana.

His career also includes a senior role at Ecobank Transnational Inc., where he was group head responsible for the bank’s retail operations across 28 African countries. The experience gave him exposure to both consumer businesses and financial services, areas that have featured prominently in his corporate career.

Since leaving Airtel Africa, Ogunsanya has remained active in Nigerian business and public-sector institutions. He chairs the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, the country’s sovereign wealth fund, and serves on the board of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group.

He has also served as an independent non-executive director of Optasia, a Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed fintech company. His new role at Vodacom will add another major African corporate board position to a career that has included senior executive and governance roles across several industries.