Rajeev Sethi joins Robi Axiata as CEO

Sethi is no stranger to Bangladesh as he had earlier served as the chief executive officer of Grameenphone

Robi Axiata has appointed Rajeev Sethi as the company’s chief executive officer. Sethi joins Robi following his role at Myanmar’s leading mobile operator, Ooredoo, as its CEO. Prior to that, he served as the chief commercial officer at Airtel for Africa.

He will be replacing M Riyaaz Rasheed, who has been serving as Robi’s acting chief executive officer since August 2021. Rasheed will now focus on his role as the company’s chief financial officer, Robi said in an emailed statement on Monday.

“With market leadership in 4G and digital innovation, Robi is now well poised for its next wave of growth. At this point in Robi’s journey, we are very happy to have a widely regarded prolific growth driver like Rajeev Sethi taking on the leadership role of Robi,” Hans Wijayasuriya and Vivek Sood, joint acting CEOs of Axiata Group, said in a statement.

“As the company prepares to celebrate its 25th year of operation, Rajeev’s leadership will certainly generate fresh momentum for Robi’s competitive strides in the Bangladesh market.”

Wijayasuriya also lauded Robi’s erstwhile acting CEO and CFO, M Riyaaz Rasheed’s “accomplishments in delivering on business objectives despite a challenging macro-economic environment”.

“Riyaaz played the critical anchor role in bringing the Robi team together during these most challenging times and furthermore succeeded in delivering excellent business results during the five quarters he was at the helm. He leaves in Rajeev’s hands an organisation well positioned for the next wave of growth,” said Wijayasuriya.

On assuming the role of Robi’s CEO, Sethi said: “I am very excited to have the privilege of working with the leading digital company of Bangladesh, Robi Axiata Limited. Over the years, it has truly evolved into a digital telco that thrives on innovation. The best part is that the culture of innovation is deeply entrenched in Robi which bodes well for future growth. I am very confident that with the support of the team Robi, we can make significant gain in market share in the coming days.”

Sethi has ICT industry experience, including executive engagements in companies such as Vodafone, HP, Hutchison Telecom and Asian Paints. Sethi received an MBA in Marketing, Finance and Operations from the Indian Institute of Management in Lucknow.

Sethi is no stranger to Bangladesh, as he had earlier served as the chief executive officer of Telenor’s subsidiary, Grameenphone.