Intelsat appoints new MD for its South African office

Intelsat, the world`s pre-eminent satellite communications company, today announced an expansion of its African operation that is based in Johannesburg, with the appointment and re-location from Washington DC, of Ibrahima Guimba-Saidou as Managing Director and head of the South Africa Regional Support Centre.

"Africa continues to be a very important market for us, "commented Flavien Bachabi, Regional Vice President Africa & Middle East for Intelsat. " As telecommunications liberalisation continues across the continent, more and more opportunities are available for us to exploit our unique capabilities together with governments, communication companies and large corporate organisations. Ibrahima`s appointment will strengthen our ability to achieve these goals."

"In this new role, Ibrahima will apply his extensive sales and teamwork experience to lead our South Africa-based sales and support staff. They will work closely with existing and potential customers of the region to retain and expand our business and market share, support the efforts of our Washington DC-based regional sales staff, as well as all other corporate initiatives and activities in the region," continued Bachabi. "We wish Ibrahima every success in this new assignment."

Ibrahima joined Intelsat in May 1995 as a Communication Engineer in the Technical Operations Control Centre, where his responsibilities included configuring satellite transponders and plotting beam coverage. He was also responsible for providing link budget calculations for antennae verification. In 1996, he was promoted to Regional Director of Africa sales.

Prior to Intelsat, Ibrahima worked for Societe des Telecommunications Internationales du Niger, the Signatory of Niger. His responsibilities included advising the Director General on new technologies, with a focus on the Internet and its applications.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Ecole Polytechnique of Montreal and a degree in Mathematics and Physics from the University of Niamey (NIGER). He received his Master`s degree in International Management from the University of Maryland. He also received his Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Maryland.

For further information, please contact Brian Gibson at tel. 011 880 1510; mobile 083 253 5988; fax 011 880 1392; e-mail Gibson@icon.co.za