Nigeria’s leading Local and International interconnect Carrier, Exchange Telecommunications Limited (Exchange Telecoms) is pleased to announce the addition of Riaan Abdoll to the company as Chief Revenue Officer effective from 02 November 2020.
In an interview, the Financial Controller of the company, Oluwatoyosi Adebakin, expressed her excitement on the recent award of the VAS Aggregator License by the National Communications Commission (NCC), and also welcomed Riaan to the team of experts and professionals in the company.
In her words, “we are very excited about the new license as it offers us an important opportunity to satisfy our customers in new ways. Currently, Exchange Telecoms transits international calls originating from Mobile Network Operators (MNO) networks in Nigeria to A-Z destinations abroad and with this new license, we assure our customers of enhanced quality which further confirms our unwavering commitment and dedication to customer satisfaction. We also see this as a diversification of our business offerings and a pivot into the future.”
Toyosi mentioned that Riaan’s exceptional skill set will greatly add value to the company and we look forward to the amazing impact and commendable milestones ahead.
Riaan offers two decades of experience in key business-driver roles, with capability honed from many years of agile corporate leadership with a focus on growth, expansion, and innovation, as part of a functional operational agenda. Through strategic foresight, drive, and determination, he’s delivered a sustained performance for Africa’s most successful multi-million dollar companies. Offering expertise across the emerging Middle East and Africa markets, Riaan is an effective commercial tactician adept at setting strategic direction, building culture, developing teams, and transforming business operations to support Board mandated objectives.
Riaan joined Terragon Group in 2019 as Chief Revenue Officer and led a rapid expansion of new client acquisition. During his time at Terragon he led the Revenue & Customer Success teams. Riaan knows what truly drives conversions, mobile customer acquisition and business expansion across Sub-Saharan Africa. He has successfully launched a leading Video-On-Demand (VOD) and Digital Media Distribution start-up in West Africa. Riaan remains focused on expanding mobile technology services, purpose-built for Sub-Saharan Africa through partnerships that exploit FINTECH & TECHNOLOGY innovations to maximize customer acquisition. Riaan built a $400m mobile promotions business for some of the largest mobile operators in Africa such as MTN, Vodafone & Etisalat.
A conceptual and out-of-the-box thinker, Riaan is a strategist and innovator with robust expertise in the development of key operating strategies enabling both large and PE-backed TMT enterprises to thrive in turbulent economies and meet complex regulatory landscapes in worldwide markets. A key influencer, policy setter and entrepreneurial executive, Riaan has held responsibility for all aspects of corporate P&L, operations and programs and engaged with companies with revenues in the tens of millions USD. Propelled by a fundamental belief that has shaped the success of his career and companies he has served, Riaan is passionate about investing in an organization’s people to drive sustainable success. Committed to implementing sound financial/capital raising structures and organizing operations in a way that encourages team-building and improved performance, his work ethic is complemented by his ability to orchestrate product development and market penetration to deliver winning results. As a trusted partner of Boards and Investors in designing corporate opportunities for the future and effectively communicating a strategic blueprint across an enterprise, Riaan has nurtured and empowered management teams to be integral to business growth.
He is particularly proud to have operated as an advisor or operating business leader in multi-functional teams that have delivered exceptional results in sales growth and operational efficiencies, and in spearheading product commercialisation and monetisation across multiple African markets. His most notable positions include:
- Chief Revenue Officer, Terragon Group Limited, Nigeria, 2019-present
- Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Chiron Integrated Services Limited, Nigeria, 2018-Present
- Country Manager West Africa, Upstream, Nigeria, 2014-2017
- Director Enterprise Sales – Banking & Financial Services, Globalcom, Nigeria, 2012-2014
- Vice President – MEA Enterprise Sales, Clickatell, South Africa, 2010-2012
Riaan holds a Master of Business Leadership from the University of South Africa (UNISA) and a Bachelor of Science (Biochemistry) and Diploma in Management Development from the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB). This wealth of experience and foresight for excellence will in no doubt increase the market share of Exchange Telecoms.
Exchange Telecoms is licensed by the NCC to provide and operate interconnect exchange services under the following licenses;
- Interconnect Exchange
- International Data Access
- VAS Aggregator
Exchange Telecoms, established in 2001 and resumed operations in February 2015 is Nigeria’s largest local and international Interconnect Carrier with 4 Points-Of-Interconnect nationwide and with presence in Telehouse, London. The company is certified with three International Standards;
- ISO 9001-2015 (Quality Management System),
- ISO 27001-2013 (Security Management System) and
- ISO 22301-2012 (Business Continuity Management)
by Professional Evaluation and Certification Board (PECB) and was recognised by the Association of Telecommunication Companies in Nigeria (ATCON) at Nigeria Tech Innovation and Telecom award in 2018 as the best interconnect service in Nigeria.
