JoyBusiness has gathered that Airtel Ghana’s CEO, Lucy Quist is leaving the company to pursue personal interests outside the company.

A short note to her followers on her Facebook page @lucyquistofficial, and her personal website, www.lucyquist.com, confirms her planned exit.

Portions of her note read “After almost three and a half year of leading the amazing team at Airtel Ghana, the time is right for me to move on to the next chapter. It has been a truly remarkable journey and I thank each and every one of you for your support, encouragement and business partnership over the course of my stewardship.

"We are proud of our achievements. Particularly, I want to thank all those who have been part of the many initiatives I have led over the last few years to empower young people and every young person who works with me for that matter. Notably the Evolve with STEM and the Bold New Normal initiatives.

"I look forward to empowering more young people even as I continue my professional journey. Together we will create the Bold New Normal of prosperity for our country and continent”.

A reliable source close to Mrs Quist also confirmed her planned exit but would not provide any additional information on where the distinguished business leader is headed next.

Her exit brings to end months of speculation about her role as CEO of Airtel Ghana once the planned merger between the company and Tigo Ghana are concluded. 

Lucy Quist joined Airtel Ghana in 2014 as the first Ghanaian female CEO of a major multinational telecom company. During her tenure, she successfully led her team to reposition and transform Airtel Ghana into one of the fastest growing telecom companies in the country as well as the industry leader in data and digital innovation and the most loved telecom brand in the daily lives of Ghanaians.

She is credited with leading the launch of breakthrough initiatives for Airtel Ghana including the introduction of bespoke sub-brands and value propositions for customers such as  Airtel Premier, the telecom industry’s first ever sub-brand that provides telecom and lifestyle solutions for High-Value customers.

She also led the creation of Airtel’s Data Business – building a specific sub-brand to grow the data side of the business – resulting in a significant growth in customer and revenue market share for data. 

Airtel’s Data Business became the conduit for digital inclusion and some of the most remarkable innovations in the data and internet service provider space within the Ghanaian telecom industry.

For instance, under her leadership, Airtel Ghana was first to introduce Free Facebook in 2015 and also zero-rated over 40 sites across education, media, healthcare and lifestyle which enabled thousands of Ghanaians, who would otherwise be excluded, to be digitally included. 

The company would follow up with breakthrough innovations such as Bundles on Facebook which enables the purchase of data bundles in real time on Facebook, dual recharge cards that enabled customers to directly load either data or airtime from the same recharge card among others.

Commercial growth aside, Mrs. Quist has been a strong advocate for corporate citizenship and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) – enabling Airtel Ghana to play a significant role in the social and economic development of the country through the company’s community investment programmes such as Airtel Touching Lives, Airtel Rising Stars, Schools Adoption programme and the Evolve with STEM initiative – which she personally championed to transform mindsets and empower young people to embrace STEM. 

Through her exemplary leadership, Airtel Ghana has been recognised repeatedly by reputable organisations in Ghana, Africa and globally. The company is reported to have won over 30 major competitive awards during her tenure including Best Data and Internet Service Provider, Telecom Business of the Year, Best CSR initiative in Africa and at the Global Carrier Awards. 

On a personal level, Mrs. Quist has been recognised by several reputable organisations for her transformational and inspirational leadership, her exceptional strategic marketing insights, selfless dedication to growing people and for championing causes that are shaping the lives of young people on the continent.

Notable among these are – Corporate Leadership Award (Ghana Legacy Honours 2017), Telecom CEO of the Year (Ghana ICT and Telecoms Award 2016), CSR CEO of the year (Ghana CSR Excellence Awards 2016) and CIMG Marketing Woman of the year (2014).

Lucy Quist has been involved in many initiatives targeted at young people. In recent times, she has embarked on the “Bold New Normal Tour” to empower young people to fully realise their potential.

She is on the Board of many distinguished local and international organisations including the International Board for African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), Petra Trust Company Ltd, the Business Environment Enabling Programme under the UK Department of International Development (DFID), the Climate Innovation Center Ghana and The Exploratory among others.

She is a founding member of the Executive Women Network, a non-profit organization of women in senior management and executive positions committed to inspiring, empowering and supporting women executives to succeed and become influential both locally and internationally.