The company says he has resigned for “personal reasons” but has given no other reason. Reports suggest he has been ill, and he dropped plans to speak at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona at short notice in February.
Etisalat, based in Abu Dhabi, has named its COO Hatem Dowidar as acting CEO. He is a former group chief of staff for Vodafone, based in London, reporting to Vodafone’s group CEO. Before that he was at Vodafone Egypt, joining in its early start-up operation in 1999, where he was CMO and later CEO until 2009.
Etisalat has a significant operation in Egypt.
Etisalat says it is looking for a permanent CEO and hopes to appoint one by June.
