Uganda Telecom Managing Director, Ali Amir Resigns

Ali Amir, Managing Director and Board Member at Uganda Telecom (UTL), has resigned from both roles citing personal reasons.

He will stay on at the Company till May to serve his notice period and handover to his successor. Ali joined UTL in July 2012, after the UN lifted the sanctions against all Libyan owned assets, as Chief Financial Officer.

He was then promoted to Managing Director when David Holliday left in July 2013.

During his tenure at UTL, Ali was able to significantly reduce the continuous year on year revenue slide and improved the profitability of the Company significantly over the last three years (EBITDA-Earnings before Interest Tax Depreciation improved by 20% in 2014). Ali was quoted as saying;

“It has been a tremendous journey, these last couple of years. I have had the privilege of working with incredible, industrious and motivated people at UTL. We have celebrated our successes together and have shared the disappointments when things have not gone well. That’s what makes a team and I am proud to say we have put together a great team with exceptional team spirit, that will take UTL to much greater heights with the right level of shareholder support. I will always cherish my time at UTL and will follow its progress very closely, even from far away”.

At this point in time his successor is being discussed by the shareholders and it is expected that he will be appointed soon. Mr. Stephen Kaboyo, Chairman of the Uganda Telecom Board said;

“On behalf of the Board, we would like to thank Ali for his untiring efforts to continue the UTL turnaround despite such challenging circumstances. UTL’s results, under his leadership, speak for themselves. It is a big loss for our team to lose someone with Ali’s passion and determination but I understand his reasons for wanting to pass on the baton to someone else to continue this UTL recovery. The Board and I personally, wish him all the best in his future endeavors”.

Mr. Wafik Shater, Chief Executive Officer of LapGreenN in Dubai, said;

“We would like to thank Ali for his dedication and perseverance through these difficult times. His approach to leadership is respected by his colleagues both in Uganda and here in Dubai. We will miss him but also understand his personal reasons for wanting to move on. However, it is important to note that LapGreenN, as majority shareholder, is fully committed to UTL and we are in the process of identifying a successor, who will be nominated over the course of the next few weeks.”