Adesemi was co-founded by Monique Maddy and Côme Laguë, two brilliant and very complementary entrepreneurs.
Maddy was born in Liberia and studied in the United States where she earned a masters degree in international relations from John Hopkins. During her studies, she met Côme Laguë and developed her plan for Adesemi, dreaming of bringing mobile telecommunications to her continent of birth. She would later get a MBA from Harvard and work for the UN, especially across Africa, giving her an even better understanding of the continent.
Laguë received a degree in electrical engineering from McGill University and would later specialize in the telecommunications industry. Equipped with a strong technical knowledge and sharing Maddy’s vision, he …show more content…
Getting a competent board composed of complementary experts on your industry and the region
Ibrahim also had great expectations for his board members. He wanted them to share his beliefs, have a strong understanding of the governance challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa, and some expertise as well. He eventually formed a board of “big beasts” , with significant technical expertise (Sir Gerry Whent, Vodafone’s first CEO; Sir Alan Rudge, former deputy chief executive of British Telecom) and strong political strength and connections (Salim Ahmed Salim, former prime minister of Tanzania and former secretary general of the Organization of African Unity, see appendix)
According to Ibrahim himself, this powerful, competent board made recruiting talents much easier and helped Celtel “navigate some of the complex political currents” and have “a great protection”
Once again, Adesemi was not as good as Celtel. Aside the co-founders and Iskandar, Adesemi’s board did not include anybody with real connection to the telecommunication industry nor the Tanzanian market or political field. It was mostly composed of representatives from the different investment firms (See appendix). And as explained previously, they were not patient, nor in line with Adesemi’s
Maddy was born in Liberia and studied in the United States where she earned a masters degree in international relations from John Hopkins. During her studies, she met Côme Laguë and developed her plan for Adesemi, dreaming of bringing mobile telecommunications to her continent of birth. She would later get a MBA from Harvard and work for the UN, especially across Africa, giving her an even better understanding of the continent.
Laguë received a degree in electrical engineering from McGill University and would later specialize in the telecommunications industry. Equipped with a strong technical knowledge and sharing Maddy’s vision, he …show more content…
Getting a competent board composed of complementary experts on your industry and the region
Ibrahim also had great expectations for his board members. He wanted them to share his beliefs, have a strong understanding of the governance challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa, and some expertise as well. He eventually formed a board of “big beasts” , with significant technical expertise (Sir Gerry Whent, Vodafone’s first CEO; Sir Alan Rudge, former deputy chief executive of British Telecom) and strong political strength and connections (Salim Ahmed Salim, former prime minister of Tanzania and former secretary general of the Organization of African Unity, see appendix)
According to Ibrahim himself, this powerful, competent board made recruiting talents much easier and helped Celtel “navigate some of the complex political currents” and have “a great protection”
Once again, Adesemi was not as good as Celtel. Aside the co-founders and Iskandar, Adesemi’s board did not include anybody with real connection to the telecommunication industry nor the Tanzanian market or political field. It was mostly composed of representatives from the different investment firms (See appendix). And as explained previously, they were not patient, nor in line with Adesemi’s