Egypt’s Hatem Dowidar becomes Etisalat Group new CEO

UAE telecoms operator Etisalat has named Hatem Dowidar, Egyptian national, as its new CEO, the group said in a statement sent to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange on Wednesday.

Dowidar has been the acting CEO of Etisalat Group since May, succeeding Saleh Al Abdooli following his resignation.

He joined Etisalat Group in September 2015 as chief operating officer and was named CEO for international operations in 2016.

Prior to this, Dowidar was chairman of Vodafone Egypt and group chief of staff for Vodafone Group. He initially joined Vodafone Egypt in its early start-up operation in 1999 as chief marketing officer, until he became the CEO of Vodafone Egypt from 2009 to 2014.

He is currently on the Boards of Maroc Telecom, PTCL, Ufone, and Etisalat Misr. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in communications and electronics engineering from Cairo University and an MBA from the American University in Cairo (AUC).