Robi gets first Bangladeshi chief executive

Mobile operator Robi yesterday named Mahtab Uddin Ahmed as its first local chief executive officer and managing director.

Ahmed will replace Supun Weerasinghe, to be effective from November 1, the company said in a statement.

After taking the reins of Robi, Ahmed will be the first Bangladeshi CEO for any foreign mobile operator.

Weerasinghe, who joined Robi in January 2014, will return to Dialog Axiata Plc (Dialog) in Sri Lanka.

Robi said the CEO has been appointed based on its ongoing efforts to develop and promote talents from within.

Currently, Ahmed works at Axiata Group on a special assignment.

He will return to Robi's leadership team from September 1 as the deputy chief executive officer, leading up to the completion of succession as CEO by November.

The announcement by Robi marks a culmination of the succession programme planned and executed over the past several years, according to the statement.

Earlier, Ahmed worked as the chief operating officer of Robi from April 2014 to March 2016. He joined Robi in 2010 as the chief financial officer, the position which he held until 2014.

Prior to joining Robi, Ahmed spent 17 years with Unilever where he held business and finance leadership positions, including the post of finance director in various operating companies like Unilever Pakistan, Unilever Arabia and Unilever Bangladesh.

Ahmed obtained honours and master's degrees in accounting from Dhaka University. 

He is also a fellow member of Institute of Cost and Management Accountant of Bangladesh, FCMA & CGMA of Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA, UK). He is also an alumnus of the Harvard Business School.