Bharti Airtel, a leading telecom services provider with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa, has appointed Teddy R.V.S. Bhullar the managing director of its operations in Rwanda. The firm operates locally as Airtel Rwanda.

Before his appointment, Bhullar has been the managing director for Airtel Sierra Leone since the launch of the firm’s operations in the country in November 2010, and in Airtel Seychelles prior to that, the firm said in a press statement yesterday. 

"With his diverse experience in blue chip organisations and skills, Bhullar is a great fit for Rwanda. His drive for results and passion for improving the lives of the people around him makes us all extremely confident that he is best placed to coach the new team at Airtel in Rwanda into the next frontier,” Airtel Africa chief executive officer, Christian de Faria, said while announcing the appointment. 

Bhullar brings 32 years of wide-ranging experiences, working at Tata Tea Ltd, Pepsi-Cola, Coca-Cola and Airtel. Bhullar holds an MBA degree and has also attended various leadership programmes at CCL in Singapore.

He will succeed Marcellin Paluku (in picture, right), who will now head airtel money at a pan-African level for a cluster of operating countries, the statement said. Paluku has successfully led Airtel Rwanda since its inception in 2011, which he managed to launch three months ahead of schedule, it added. Over his tenure in Rwanda, Airtel not only has the best Internet service in the country, but more than one million Rwandans have adopted Airtel as their network.