Leadership

Sam Darwish is one of our co-founders and serves as the Chairman and Group Chief Executive Officer of IHS Towers, and as a Director of IHS Towers. Mr. Darwish has over 25 years’ experience in the telecommunications industry. Before founding the Company, he served as the Deputy Managing Director of CELIA Motophone Ltd, Nigeria’s first GSM operator. Prior to that, Mr. Darwish was Vice Chairman and Director of projects at Lintel, an international GSM operator, responsible for global project implementation in West Africa and the Middle East. Mr. Darwish also served as Network Manager for Libancell SAL, a Lebanese GSM operator, which is currently known as Touch. In addition, Mr. Darwish has created several businesses and investment firms. In this regard, he currently serves as the Founder and Principal of Singularity Investments, a private investment firm with a focus on technology, media and telecommunications companies with investments in the United States and the emerging markets. He is also the Founder and President of DAR Properties, a property investment company, and DAR Telecoms, a telecommunications consulting company. He is also a Trustee of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, New York.  

Mallam Bashir Ahmad El-Rufai has been a Director and the Chairman of the Board of Directors for IHS Nigeria Limited since 2002, and was Chairman of the Board of Directors of IHS Towers from 2013 to 2019. Prior to IHS Nigeria Limited, Mr. El‑Rufai served with Kano State Oil & Allied Product Limited before joining Nigerian Cereals Processing Company Ltd as Assistant Production Manager and Group Marketing Manager. He served as Chief Commercial Officer for the Northern District of the Nigerian External Telecommunications Limited (NET) and held several positions at the Nigerian Telecommunications Ltd (NITEL).

He was Co‑founder and President of Nigeria’s first indigenous private telecom operator, Intercellular Nigeria Limited. Mr. El‑Rufai serves as Chairman of  Intercellular Nigeria Plc and as Vice Chairman/Corporate Advisor of Intercellular/Sudatel (Nigeria) Limited. He has served as an Independent Director of FSDH Merchant Bank Limited and a Director of Kafal Pharmaceuticals Limited. Mr. El‑Rufai has also chaired several boards including Channel Distribution (an ICT company), MFB fertilizer and Chemical Co.Ltd. and Systemtech.

Ursula Burns joined the Board of Directors of IHS Holding Limited as an Independent Non-Executive Director in July 2020. Ms. Burns was the Chairman of the Board of Xerox Corporation from 2010 to 2017 and Chief Executive Officer from 2009 to 2016, after having been appointed President in 2007. During Ms. Burns’ tenure as Chief Executive Officer, she helped the company transform from a global leader in document technology to the world’s most diversified business services company serving enterprises and governments of all sizes. Shortly after being named CEO in 2009, she spearheaded the largest acquisition in Xerox history, the $6.4 billion purchase of Affiliated Computer Services.

Following her retirement from Xerox, Ms. Burns was appointed as Chairman of VEON, Ltd. in 2017 and became Chairman and CEO in December 2018 until June 2020.

Ms. Burns is a member of the Exxon Mobil, Uber Technologies, Inc., and Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc. Board of Directors. She is also a founding partner of Integrum Holdings, a private equity firm, Non-Executive Chairman of Teneo Holdings LLC, and the Executive Chairman of Plum Acquisition Corp I. In addition, Ms. Burns is on several private company boards, including Waystar, IHS Holding Limited, and Hear.com while also providing leadership counsel to several other community, educational and non-profit organizations including the Ford Foundation, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Corporation, Cornell Tech Board of Overseers, the New York City Ballet, and the Mayo Clinic amongst others.

President Barack Obama appointed Ms. Burns to lead the White House national program on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) from 2009 - 2016. She served as Chair of the President’s Export Council from 2015 - 2016 after service as Vice Chair from 2010 - 2015.

Ms. Burns holds a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Polytechnic Institute of New York University. She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Royal Academy of Engineering and the G7 Gender Equity Advisory Council.

Jeb Bush joined the Board of Directors of IHS Holding Limited as an Independent Non-Executive Director in October 2019. Mr. Bush is the 43rd governor of the State of Florida, serving from 1999 through to 2007. He was the third Republican elected to the state’s highest office and the first Republican in the state’s history to be re-elected. He was most recently a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.

Governor Bush remained true to his conservative principles throughout his two terms in office – cutting nearly $20 billion in taxes, vetoing more than $2.3 billion in earmarks and reducing the state government workforce. His limited government approach helped unleash one of the most robust and dynamic economies in the nation, creating 1.3 million net new jobs and improving the state’s credit ratings, including achieving the first ever triple-A bond rating for Florida.

During his two terms, Governor Bush championed major reform of government, in areas ranging from health care and environmental protection to civil service and tax reform. His top priority was the overhaul of the state’s failing education system. Under Governor Bush’s leadership, Florida established a bold accountability system in public schools and created the most ambitious school choice programs in the nation. Governor Bush is also known for his leadership during two unprecedented back-to-back hurricane seasons, which brought eight hurricanes and four tropical storms to the state of Florida in less than two years. He worked tirelessly to improve the state’s ability to respond quickly and compassionately during emergencies, while also instilling a ‘culture of preparedness’ in the state’s citizenry.

Governor Bush previously served as a Presidential Professor of Practice at University of Pennsylvania. He also served as a visiting professor and fellow at Harvard University, an executive professor at Texas A&M University, and has been awarded several honorary doctorates from collegiate institutions across the country. Governor Bush earned his bachelor’s degree in Latin American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin.

Governor Bush currently serves as Chairman of Finback Investments Partners LLC and Dock Square Capital LLC, both merchant banks headquartered in Coral Gables.

Governor Bush maintains his passion for improving the quality of education by serving as the Chairman of the Foundation for Excellence in Education, a national non-profit education reform organization he founded to transform education in America.

Frank Dangeard joined the Board of Directors of IHS Holding Limited as a Non-Executive Director in September 2020. Mr. Dangeard is the Chairman of NortonLifelock (ex-Symantec - US), Chairman of Natwest Markets (UK) and also serves on the board of the NatWest Group (ex-RBS Group-UK). In the telecom and technology sectors, he has served on the boards of RPX (US); Orange, Equant and Wanadoo (France Telecom/Orange Group); Eutelsat (France); SonaeCom (Portugal) and was Deputy Chairman and Acting Chairman of Telenor (Norway).

During his operating career, Mr. Dangeard was Deputy CEO of Thomson multimedia, then Deputy CEO of France Telecom, then Chairman & CEO of Thomson. He started his career in 1986 with Sullivan & Cromwell in New York and London, and then became a Managing Director of the investment bank SG Warburg & Co. Ltd.

He has been a member of the Advisory Boards of the Harvard Business School (US) and of Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (France). He was a founding board member of Bruegel, the European think-tank.

Mr. Dangeard graduated from the École des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (Prix Jouy-Entreprise), the Paris Institut d’Études Politiques (Lauréat) and from the Harvard Law School (Fulbright Scholar, HLS Fellow). He received the French Ordre National du Mérite and the French Légion d’Honneur.

Bryce Fort joined the Board of Directors of IHS Holding Limited as a Non-Executive Director in June 2013. Mr. Fort is a Managing Director and Founding Partner of Emerging Capital Partners (ECP). He is responsible for identifying, analyzing, and recommending investments, performing due diligence, and leading transaction teams. Mr. Bryce has served on the boards of IHS Towers, Mukuru Limited, Wananchi Group Holdings, Java House, Artcaffe Limited and Maarifa Education, among others. 

Prior to joining ECP in 2002, Mr. Fort worked for Deutsche Bank AG’s European Healthcare Corporate Finance Group which executed mergers and acquisitions, and equity and debt financing for pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device companies. 

Mr. Fort received a bachelor’s degree cum laude in computer engineering with a minor in economics from Lehigh University.

Maria Carolina Lacerda joined the Board of Directors of IHS Holding Limited as a Non-Executive Director in October 2021. An investment banker for 25 years in financial institutions such as UBS, Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank and Bear Stearns, Ms. Lacerda serves today on the Board of Directors and Audit Committees of large publicly-traded Brazilian corporates such as Vibra Energia (former BR Distribuidora - BRDT3), Rumo Logistica (RAIL3) and Hypera Pharma (HYPE3/HYPMY). A Brazilian national, she was Member of the Board of Directors of ANBIMA (Entity representing Players in the Financial and Capital Markets), the CNF (Financial Industry Association) and Câmara de Listagem da BM&FBovespa (Stock Exchange Listing Board) in Brazil. Ms. Lacerda is today a mentor of the IBGC (Brazilian Institute for Corporate Governance) Diversity Program for Corporate Directors and a member of the Investment Committee of SempreFEA, the endowment fund for the Economics and Business School of the University of São Paulo. 

Ms. Lacerda has a BA in Economics from the University of São Paulo (1994) and an MBA from Columbia University (1999). Also has Corporate Directors Certifications from IBGC and Harvard Business School.

Joined the Board of Directors of IHS Holding Limited as a Non-Executive Independent Director in October 2021. Mr. Nhleko previously served as Chief Executive of MTN Group from 2002 to 2011 and continued to serve as Non-Executive Director and Chair of the MTN Group board from 2013 to 2019. He also currently as Chairman of the Pembani Group (PTY) Ltd, a position he has held since 2011. He currently serves on the boards of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, or the JSE, and is expected to serve as the Chairman of the JSE from May 2022. Mr. Nhleko also serves as the director of Engen Holding Limited and Phembani Remgro Infrastructure Fund Managers. Previously, he served on the boards of BP plc from 2011 to 2016 and Anglo American from 2011 to 2015. In addition, during his tenure as MTN Group CEO, he was a non-executive director at the GSM Association, the global trade association for mobile phone operators. Prior to joining MTN Group, Mr. Nhleko served as a director of Nedbank Group Limited and Old Mutual Life (SA).

Aniko Szigetvari first served on the Board of Directors of IHS Holding Limited as a Non-Executive Director from July 2014 to February 2021, before re-joining in October 2021. She is the founding partner of Atlantica Ventures, an African impact focused venture capital fund investing in early-stage startups building technology and technology-enabled businesses. She serves as board committee chair and advisory board member of various investee companies. Prior to this, Ms. Szigetvari also had 20 years' experience with the International Finance Corporation, or IFC, beginning in 1998, where she focused on emerging markets principal investing and financing, primarily in the telecommunication, media, and technology, or TMT, sectors. For eight years she managed IFC's TMT business, first as the Head of the Africa and Latin America TMT businesses, then including four years as Global Head of the TMT group from 2015 to 2019, leading investment and portfolio activities across all emerging markets. Prior to joining IFC, Ms. Szigetvari held roles at DHL, Kraft Foods and McKinsey & Company. She holds various graduate degrees, including a Master of Business Administration degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.