Rui Fonseca New Chairperson of Vodacom

21 April 2011

Maputo — The former head of the Mozambique’s publicly-owned port and rail company, CFM, Rui Fonseca, on Thursday took office as chairperson of the board of directors of the Mozambican subsidiary of the South African mobile phone company, Vodacom.

Fonseca was chosen for the post by Whatana Investments, a company headed by Mozambique’s former first lady, Graca Machel, and which holds five per cent of the shares in Vodacom-Mozambique.

He replaces Salimo Abdula, who was appointed by another of the minority shareholders, Intelec.

85 per cent of the shares in Vodacom-Mozambique are held by Vodacom International, while the three Mozambican partners – Whatana, Intelec and Emotel – hold five per cent each. It has been the practice for the chairmanship of the board to rotate on an annual basis between the three minority shareholders.

Addressing Thursday’s ceremony, Fonseca said “it is with a great sense of responsibility that I have accepted the invitation of the shareholders to join the work of a company that has been developing its project with a high degree of professionalism and quality”.

He said he intended to continue the work of his predecessors, ensure growth in the mobile telephony market, guarantee participatory management, and build up the company’s human resources.

Abdula declared that, as outgoing chairperson, he was leaving the post with a sense of “mission accomplished”. The successes enjoyed by Vodacom, he claimed, were the result of joint efforts by all the shareholders and company workers, imbued with what he called the “Vodacom spirit”.

Vodacom has not yet succeeded in its drive to overtake the pioneer in mobile phone communications in Mozambique, the publicly-owned company M-Cel. Vodacom currently claims a 45 per cent share of the market, leaving M-Cel with 55 per cent.

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